What if?
by mercurio.cristallo
Summary: Melinda is Doug's Twin, and goes along to the Party. I know it's sounds like other Hangover fics, but just give it a chance please. Basically Hangover when Doug has a twin Sister. Phil/OC, wont end how you think it will, unless you actually think it will end the way it does. M for safety (language/themes)
1. Chapter 1

A woman stood in front of an easel, paint brush in hand, finishing a painting she had started a week earlier. She completed a few strokes on the canvas before she stepped back to get a better look at her art work. _Perfect_, she thought to herself with a small smile on her face, placing her paint brush into a jar of water. She took of her paint covered art shirt and pulled her the hair tie out of her hair, letting her brown curls fall down past her shoulders before she turned to the clock to check the time. _Shit, I'm gonna be late_, she thought while she ran up the stairs and into the bathroom.

Showered and dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans, Melinda ran around her room chucking clothes into a bag before running into the bathroom grabbing her toiletries and back to her bag on her bed, placing them in with her clothes.

"I knew you'd forget to pack." Said a voice from behind her causing her to jump. She spun around in surprise to see her brother standing there.

"Doug. You scared the shit out of me." She said; hand on her chest as she calmed her breathing. "You seriously are an ass sometimes. Do you always just yet yourself in?"

Her brother chuckled as Melinda sat on her bed, pulling her hi-top purple Converse on her feet. "I did knock, when there was no answer I let myself in." He said with a smile. "So, where's Nick today?" he asked as he sat next to her.

"I seriously have no idea." At that moment they heard the front door open and shut.

"Mel, I'm home." A male voice called from downstairs.

"Please don't say I'm going to Vegas. He thinks Tracy and I are going to a spa." She pleaded in a whisper to her brother.

"Seriously don't know why you have to lie to him, but what sort of brother would I be if I didn't agree." He replied before standing, a few moments later Nick entered the room.

"Oh, hey Doug. Guess that's your car down there." Nick said as he saw Doug standing there.

"Actually it's Sid's. How've you been Nick?"

"Same old. Why are you here?"

"Oh, uh, Tracy asked me to pick Mel up."Doug lied to his sister's boyfriend.

"Yeah, and we have to get going." Melinda said as she stood up and grabbed her bag.

"I'll go put this in the truck, see you down there in a sec." Doug said as he took his sisters bag and left the room.

Nick looked at Melinda. "Have a nice spa date. Surprised to see Doug picking you up though."

"Why?" She replied, her brows pulled into a frown.

"I just assumed Tracy would come and get you. When I saw Doug I thought that you may be going to Vegas, but that's just stupid."

"Why would that be stupid, I'd actually think it would be fun."

"Can you just act like a girl for once Mel? I'm sick of you acting like a guy. You should be wearing make-up and doing girly things. Not hanging out with those idiots."

"Did you just call my brother an idiot?" She asked as anger started to boil up inside her.

"No, I mean the other two. Stu and Phil. Well mainly Phil."

"Right. This is about Phil again. Seriously Nick, he is just my friend."

"You seriously think I believe that? The way you two act around each other makes me think you have romantic history. And the way he looks at you makes me think he's in love with you."

Melinda looked at her boyfriend, disbelief written on her face. "You know he's married Nick. There is no history. Can we please stop talking about him? I'm going to a spa with Tracy, not anywhere near Phil." She stormed off down the stairs, grabbing her keys, wallet and phone, putting them in her jean pockets. She grabbed her sunglasses and slid them onto her head as she heard Nick descending the stairs.

"Can we please not fight?" he asked her as he reached the bottom step.

"Yeah, fine, whatever." She opened the front door and started to step out.

"Have fun." Nick called out as Melinda walked towards the car her brother was sitting in.

"Bye Nick." She called as she jumped into the back behind Alan, who was sitting in the front. "Nice ride bro."

"Thanks. All set?" Doug asked as he looked at his sister.

"Yeah, let's get the hell out of here." She replied as she pulled her sunglasses over her eyes.

"Hello Melinda." Alan said from the front, looking at her from an angle.

"Hey Alan, how are you?" she smiled at the man.

"I am good. Thank you." He turned back to face the front.

8~8

They pulled up in front of the school where Phil worked. "Ahem, do you have to park so close?" Alan asked, his hand resting on his head trying to hide his face.

"Yeah. What's wrong?" Doug replied, looking at him.

"I shouldn't be here"

"Why's that Alan?"

"I'm not supposed to be within two-hundred feet of a school."

"What?"

"Or a Chuck E. Cheese" Alan added as Melinda laughed from the back seat.

"Hey Mr. Wenneck, I was -"

"It's the weekend Budnick. I don't know you. You do not exist." The trio in the car turned their heads to see Phil walking towards them after brushing off a student who tried to ask him a question.

"Shit. Nice Car" Phil said as he threw his bag into the back at Melinda, who caught it and placed it on the floor in front of her as she slid over to the other side of the car.

"Yeah" Doug agreed.

"I'm driving."

"Whoa, No chance, buddy -" Phil started to climb into the car by stepping on the side. "Don't step – God. Watch the leath-" Doug pleaded.

"Shut up and drive before these nerds ask me another question" Phil said as he got comfortable in the back seat, placing his arm along the back.

"Animal."

Phil turned to look at Melinda "Hey Mel, how's that dib shit boyfriend of yours?"

"He's fine I guess." Melinda replied, looking away.

"Does he know you're coming to Vegas?"

"What do you think?"

"I would think, no. Who's this?" Phil asked noticing Alan in the front.

"It's Alan. Tracy's brother." Doug said as he started to drive off.

"I met you like four times." Alan told him

"Oh, yeah. How you doing man?" Phil said as they drove towards Stu's place. Phil turned back to Melinda. "So, not denying he's a dib shit then."

"I can't deny something that's true." Melinda replied as she looked at him.

"Is everything okay?" a slight worried look on his face.

Melinda looked at him in shock. "Since when do you get worried about me Phil? Everything is fine." The car fell into silence before they pulled up at Stu's place.

"Who's going to go and get him then?" Doug asked from the front.

"Paging Doctor Faggot. Doctor Faggot!" Phil called out, causing laughter from the others. A few moments later Stu emerged from his house with his bag, placing it in the trunk with the others including the one Phil threw at him. He shut the boot and hoped into the car behind Doug, causing Melinda to scoot closer to Phil.

"Right, let's go." Doug said they pulled away.

8~8

They were on the highway; Alan was standing up in the front of the car and shouting "Whoo! Road Trip!" he turns and faces the side bangs on the side of the car screaming "Vegas! Vegas, baby! Vegas! You're nuts!" the little girl in the car next to them stuck her finger up at him, causing him to sit back down.

"Come on, just till Barstow. Everybody's passing us." Phil complained to Doug.

"Absolutely not. I promised Sid. I will be the only one driving this car. Besides, you're drinking." Doug said from the front.

"Oh, what are you, a cop now? You know I drive great when I'm drunk."

"That's true. Don't forget, Phil was always our designated drunk driver." Stu said

"Yeah. When did drinking ever stop him from driving. Remember what happened to my first car?" Melinda said as she sipped her beer.

"Yeah. You wanna explain it to them, Alan?" Doug asked the man next to him.

"Guys, my dad love this car more then he loves me, so, yeah." Alan told them. Melinda couldn't help but feel sorry for the man.

"Aw, whatever. I left my wife and kid at home so I could go with you guys to Vegas. You know how difficult that was?" Phil asked, his voice hinting with sarcasm.

"That's really sweet Phil"

"Dude, I was being sarcastic. I fucking hate my life. I may never go back. I might just stay in Vegas." Phil said as Melinda rolled her eyes, taking another sip of her beer.

"Here we go. Always the drama queen." She said earning a glare from Phil and a chuckle from Stu.

"You know what Doug, enjoy yourself, because come Sunday you're gonna start dying just a little bit every day."

"Yeah. That's why I've managed to stay single this whole time, you know?" Alan said.

"Oh, really? That's why you're single?"Stu asked.

"Yeah"

"Cool. Good to know."

"Am I all right over there, Alan?" Doug asked him.

"Yeah, you're good." He replied, not even looking. Doug started to move the car into the next lane when a truck honked its horn. Tires squealed as Doug quickly swerved the car back into the lane causing Melinda to grab Phil's arm to steady herself.

"Oh, my God!" Stu said as Melinda started to laugh.

"That was awesome!" Alan laughed.

"That was not awesome. What's wrong with you?" Doug voice laced with fear.

"That was insane. We almost just died." Stu shrieked.

"You should have seen your face. Classic" Alan chuckled.

"That's funny." Phil laughed along with Alan and Melinda.

"It's not funny." Doug said as they all calmed down.

Phil leaned closer to Melinda to whisper in her ear, "You can let go of my arm now."

Blushing, she quickly let go, taking a sip of beer to distract herself as they continued down the road.

8~8

They reached a service station and Alan was leaning against the side of the car a book in his hand, Melinda was sitting in the back seat, playing a game on her phone while the other three were inside. A man whistled, Melinda looked up to see an elderly man admiring the car. "Boy, you've got a sweet ride there." He said to Alan.

"Don't touch it. Don't even look at it. Go on, get out. You heard me. Don't look at me, either" Alan stops leaning on the side of the car and stands watching the man. "Yeah, you better walk on. I'll hit an old man in public." He turns back around and leans back on the car to read his book. Melinda just sat in the back laughing quietly to herself.

The guys walked back out carrying their purchases. Doug reached the car and threw a soda to his sister. "Thanks bro." She said as she caught it.

"No problems." He replied as he got into the front. The other got back into the car and they were off again.

8~8

Melinda was resting her head on Phil's shoulder, her eyes shut, his arm sitting along the back of the seat as he absentmindedly played with her hair. "It says here we should work in teams. Who wants to be my spotter?" Alan said as Melinda opened her eyes again.

"I don't think you should be doing too much gambling tonight, Alan" Doug said to him.

"Gambling? Who said anything about gambling? It's not gambling when you know you're gonna win. Counting cards is a foolproof system."

"It's also illegal" Stu told him.

"It's not illegal, it's frowned upon, like masturbating on an airplane."

"I'm pretty sure that's illegal too." Phil said as Melinda started to giggle silently.

"Yeah, maybe after 9/11, where everybody got so sensitive. Thanks a lot, Bin laden."

"Either way, you gotta be super smart to count cards, buddy, okay?" Doug said.

"Oh, really?"

"It's not easy."

"Okay. Well maybe we should tell that to Rain Man because he practically bankrupted a casino and he was a ruh-tard."

"What?" Stu asked

"He was a ruh-tard"

"Retard" Doug corrected, causing his sisters silent giggles to become fits of laughter.

**A/N: Just testing out my story, seeing if you all want me to update it. Basically, it's similar to most of the Hangover stories on her, Doug has a sister who comes to the Party and ends up hooking up with Phil during said Party (Be honest, who wouldn't want to hook up with Phil. Bradley Cooper = all things sexy.), and the aftermath, and all that. But there will be differences. **

**DISCLAIMER: I Don't own Hangover, or the characters. Other then Melinda and Nick. **

**So tell me what you think, I can edit and upload the next chapter soon, already written, just needs an edit and "A/N"**

**Oh and Sorry if there is any OOC ness**

**Thanks :D**

**-MercurioC**


	2. Chapter 2

"Hi, welcome to Ceasars" said the woman behind the counter at Ceasars Palace when they reached the desk, her name tag reading _Lisa_. "Checking in?"

"Yeah. We have a reservation under Dr. Price." Stu told her.

Lisa looked at her computer, "Okay, let me look that up for you."

"Dr. Price. Stu, you're a dentist, okay? Don't try and get fancy." Phil said to him.

"It's not fancy if it's true." Stu defended.

Phil turned to Lisa, "He's a dentist. Don't get too excited. And if, uh, someone has a heart attack, you should still call 911."

"We'll be sure to do that." She said as she smiled at him.

"Can I ask you a question? Do you know if the hotel's pager-friendly?" Alan asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not getting a sig on my beeper." Holding up his pager.

"I'm not sure." Lisa said to Alan.

"Is there a payphone bank? Bunch of payphones? Business."

"Um, there's a phone in your room."

"That'll work."

"So I have you in a two-bedroom suite on the 12th floor, is that okay?"

"It sounds perfect." Doug said.

"Actually, I was wondering if you have any villas available." Phil said to Lisa.

"Phil, we're not even gonna be in the room." Stu told him.

"It's unnecessary." Doug agreed.

"It's no big deal. We can share beds. It's one night."

"I'm not sharing a bed with any of you idiots." Melinda said to them.

"You weren't going to." Stu told her.

"If we're share beds, I'm bunking with Phil. You good with that?" Alan asked Phil.

"No, I'm not good with that. Guys, we are not sharing beds. What are we, 12 years old? Lisa, I apologise. How much is the villa?" Phil asked Lisa.

"Well, we have one villa available, and it's 4200 for the night." Lisa replied.

"Is it awesome?" Alan asked.

"It's pretty awesome."

"We'll take it. Give her your credit card." Phil ordered Stu.

"I can't give her my credit card."

"We'll split it." Doug suggested, earning a smack from his sister. "Ow."

"Don't you dare." She told him firmly. "And it didn't hurt, you big baby."

"Are you crazy? No this is on us." Phil said, ignoring the sibling exchange.

"You don't get it. Melissa checks my statements. Why can't Mel do it, it's her brother." Stu told them.

"I don't even own a credit card, you know that." Melinda reminded him.

"We just need a credit card on file. We won't charge you anything until you check out, so you can figure it out then." Lisa said.

"Perfect. That's perfect. Thank you, Lisa. We'll deal with it tomorrow. Come on." Phil said.

"Fine" Stu said, defeated as he handed over his credit card.

"Can I ask you another question?" Alan asked Lisa.

"Sure." Lisa answered.

"You probably get this a lot. This isn't the real Ceasars Palace, is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did, uh..." He looked at the guys and then back at Lisa "Did Caesar live here?"

"Um, no." She said as Melinda shook with silent laughter.

"I didn't think so." Alan said as he looked around.

8~8

They reached the room and Stu used to key card to open the door, "Holy Shit" he said as he walked in the others following him.

"Now, this is Vegas." Phil said, slapping Stu on the shoulder.

"Oh, my—This place is enormous." Doug said, staring around the room.

"Now we're talking" Phil said looking out the window.

"Is this all one suite? Thank you, guys. Or should I say, 'Thank you, Stu'?" Doug said smiling.

"You're welcome. It's only because I love you." Stu said.

Melinda laughed and hugged her brother "This is so great Dougie. Thank you for inviting me."

Laughing Doug hugged her back, "I wouldn't have it any other way sis."

"I'm gonna go get changed see you guys in a bit." She smiled as she ran off into one of the rooms.

8~8

Melinda was sitting on her bed, dressed in a purple strapless cocktail dress and her favourite purple Converse, brushing her curls when she heard a knock at the door. "Come in." She said, as she got up and walked over to the mirror that was hanging on the wall.

"Really? That's what you're wearing?" Phil joked as he stepped into the room, leaving the door wide open, Melinda turned to glare at him.

"Since when do you knock Phil?"

"Since I was trying to be polite." He said as he sat on the edge of her bed.

"In the whole time I've known you; you have never been polite to me."

"That's a lie and you know it. Are you ready?" He asked.

"Does it look like it?"

"No, cause you are still wearing those stupid shoes. Can't you wear high heels like normal girls?" He said as he pointed to her feet.

"You sound like Nick. Besides, Converse go with anything." She said with a laugh, "You know that I would never wear heels, except at my brother's wedding, but that's only because Tracy scares me sometimes." She walked over and sat next to him. "Did you want something Philip?"

He looked at her, "Is everything okay?"

"Why wouldn't they be?" She asked as she looked towards the ground.

"Come on, I know you, I know when you're upset. What's up? Did that jackass do something to hurt you?" Phil said as he nudged her arm with his elbow, Melinda sighed.

"Why do you think he did something?"

"Because you agreed with me when I called him a dib shit, something you never do." Melinda started to kick the ground with her foot. "Come on Mel, you can tell me."

Melinda took a deep breath before answering, "Nicks sleeping with Lily."

"What? Why the fuck would he do that? Are you okay? How did you find out?" Anger lacing Phil's voice.

"Well, Lily came around for tea a month ago, and the two disappeared for like half an hour, so I went to check it out and I saw them. Nick has no idea that I know." She said looking at her feet.

"Why didn't you dump him? Kick his ass or something?" Phil asked. Melinda looked up at him; he saw the tears forming in her deep green eyes.

"Because I can never find someone better who would want to be with me." She said simply, like it was obvious.

"What? God you can be an idiot sometimes. Mel, any guy would be lucky to have you." He told her.

"Yeah, right. Seriously Phil. Who would want to be with a girl like me? I paint for a living and I act like a guy when I should be out doing stupid girly things like shopping and getting a makeover. Guys want girls who wear make-up and high heels. They don't want girls like me who wear sneakers and like the idea of going to Vegas with her male friends and twin brother." She finished as a tear fell from her eye. Phil placed an arm around her shoulder, hugging her to him, comforting her. "No wonder why Nick went and slept with Lily. Who would want to be with me when they could shag her?"

"Okay, firstly. Lily is just a stupid slut who shouldn't have been your friend in the first place. And Secondly, Nick is a dickhead. I said that to you after you introduced him to us. You can do a million times better then that idiot, and even that guy would be god damn lucky to have you. You are amazing Mel, trust me." He smiled at her, his arm still around her. "Now, clean up, finish getting ready, we'll meet you in the lounge." He placed a kiss on the top of her head before getting up and leaving the room, shutting the door behind him.

Melinda smiled to herself as she finished her hair, tying it simply to the side so her hair sat on her left shoulder, and washed her face, before grabbing her wallet and leaving to wait for the guys in the lounge.

8~8

"Hey Alan, whatcha got there?" Melinda asked when Alan entered the villa carrying a plastic bag.

"Where are the guys?" He asked, ignoring her question.

"Stu's room. Go hurry them up would you. Thanks." Melinda smiled as he left to get the guys. A few moments later the four of them came out of the room.

"Wow. You look great Mel." Doug said when he saw his sister.

"Why thank you Dougie." She smiled at him, "Shall we get going?"

The five walked out of the hall and down the room to the elevator bay, all very excited for the night ahead of them. Phil hit the button on the elevator and stood next to Melinda. "Are you better now?" He whispered to her.

"Yes, thank you." She whispered her reply. He just smiled at her before turning to Alan, looking at him in disbelief.

"You're not really wearing that are you?" He asked.

"Wearing what?" Alan said, not knowing what Phil was talking about.

"The man-purse." Phil said, pointing at it, Alan looked down at his bad. "You're actually gonna wear that or are you guys fucking with me? Mel, it's really yours right?"

Melinda shook her head, a smile breaking out on her face.

"It's where I keep all my things. I get a lot of compliments on this. Plus, it's not a man-purse. It's called a satchel. Indiana Jones wears one." Alan said as he looked at the elevator.

"So does Joy Behar." Phil said, Melinda smacked his arm.

"Hey, Alan, could you hold my wallet in your satchel please?" Melinda asked him with a smile.

"Yes I can Melinda." He replied as she handed her wallet to him.

"Seriously Mel, stop calling your purse a wallet. You're a chick." Phil said to her.

"Get fucked Philip. I can call it whatever the hell I like." She said glaring at the man.

Right at that moment, the elevator stopped and its doors opened, revealing a man getting off his knees and a blond woman, who fixed her dress. "We're going up, guys." The man said when he was standing again.

"Yeah, that's perfect." Phil said as the five of them stepped into the lift.

"Really?" Stu asked.

"We're going up?" Doug asked Phil, a confused look on his face as the doors closed.

The man was staring at Melinda, "Hey baby. What's a sexy girl like you doing with these guys?"

"Trying to ignore a creep like you." She replied, not looking at the man.

"Someone should teach you some respect."

"Someone should punch you in the face." She countered as the others turned to look at the exchange.

"Hey man, leave her alone." Phil said from Melinda's other side.

"No harm done." The man said, raising his hands. A few moments later the elevator stopped and he exited the elevator with the woman.

"You alright Mel?" Stu asked, surprised when she laughed.

"Of course I am. I've dealt with creeps like him since high school. I know how to deal with them. You guys weren't always there to defend me you know." She said, before they all fell into silence.

8~8

"I'm just saying, it's clearly marked, okay? We are definitely not supposed to be up here" Stu complained.

"Oh come on Stu, we're paying for a Villa. We can do whatever the fuck we want." Phil said.

"Yeah, but-"

"Just wedge the door open. Guys, come on up here." Phil said as he started to climb that ladder.

"Fine" Stu said as he found something to wedge the door open with.

"How the hell did you find this place?" Doug asked as they climbed onto the roof.

"Don't worry about it." Phil said as he hopped of the ladder.

"Look at the view up here."

"You happy?" Phil asked a smile on his face.

"This is great." Doug said as Stu and Melinda joined them.

"Whoa!" Stu said as he saw the view. Phil chuckled. "Are you kidding?"

Melinda stood speechless while she looked around, the view was amazing.

"Alan, how we doing, buddy?" Phil asked Alan who was still by the ladder.

"Good." He replied as he walked over to the rest of the group carrying shot glasses and a bottle.

"What you got over there, Alan?" Doug asked as Alan joined them. "Uh-oh"

"Right?" Phil said as he took the bottle from Alan.

"A little Jagermeister. Good idea."

"There it is. Good call." Stu said as Alan handed out glasses.

"On the roof." Doug said as his sister smiled.

"Um, no, this is good. I'd like to make a toast. To Doug and Tracy. May tonight be but a minor speed bump in an otherwise very long and healthy marriage. Cheers." Stu said, raising his glass, the others lifting theirs a second later.

"Cheers."

"Short and sweet." Phil said as they emptied their shots.

"Oh, it's like college." Doug said.

"I hated college." Melinda mumbled.

"Yeah, didn't you drop out or something?" Phil asked her. She went quiet, pain in her eyes as she remembered why she dropped out in the first place. She snapped out of it when she felt her brother's hand on her shoulder. She looked at them, sympathy in Doug's and Stu's eyes while Phil looked confused.

"Anyway." She said as she cleared her throat and turned to her brother, "Doug, can I just say how proud I am. Tracy is a wonderful woman and I am so very happy that she is going to be part of our crazy family. You found someone to love forever and maybe she can teach me how to actually act like a girl." They all laughed. "But seriously, I have never been prouder of you Doug."

"Thanks Mel, that means a lot." Doug said as he hugged her.

"All right. I wanna talk about something." Phil started

"All right"

"I want to-"

"I'd like to-" Alan interrupted. "I'd like to say something that I prepared tonight."

"All right, Alan." Stu said as Alan got out a piece of paper and unfolded it.

Alan started to read from the note. "Hello. How about that ride in? I guess that's why they call it Sin City." He chuckled. "You guys might not know this, but I consider myself a bit of a loner. I tend to think of myself as a one-man wolf pack. But when my sister brought Doug home, I knew he was one of my own. And my wolf pack, it grew by one. So were there two—So there were two of us in the wolf pack. I was alone first in the pack, and then Doug joined in later. And then Doug introduced me to his sister Melinda. And I knew she wasn't like other girls. So she too became part of the wolf. The wolf pack gained its first bitch." Phil chuckled, causing Melinda to punch his arm, as Alan continued. "And six months ago when Doug introduced me to you guys, I thought: 'Wait a second. Could it be?' And now, I know for sure. I just added two more guys to my wolf pack."

"All right." Doug said with a grin on his face.

"Five of us wolves running around the desert together in Las Vegas looking for strippers and cocaine. So tonight." Alan stops reading and pulls out a knife. "I make a toast."

"What you got there?" Doug asked and a moment later Alan stuck the knife into his hand.

"Dude, what the fuck?" Phil screamed at him as the four of them stepped away from Alan. Melinda grabbed Phil's arm, her eyes wide in shock.

"What the hell are you doing?" Doug shrieked as Alan groaned through the pain of the knife in his hand.

"What is that?" Stu asked.

"Blood brothers." Alan said his face serious.

Don't—Why did you-?"

"Damn it." Doug said.

"Here." Alan said as he tried to hand Stu the knife.

"Alan—no."

"No, I'm not doing that." Stu said, staring at the knife like it was going to bite his hand off.

"Go ahead, Stuart." Alan told him.

"Make him stop."

"Alan, we're not gonna cut ourselves. Give me the knife. Slowly. Thank you. Okay. Thank you very much" Doug said. He placed the knife on the ledge behind them.

"You all right? Are you okay?" Phil asked him, as Melinda let go of his arm.

"Mm-hm." Alan mumbled as he sucked the cut on his hand.

"So you need a doctor?"

"He's fine. He's good." Doug said.

"You sure?"

"I'm good." Alan stated.

"All right, good, because I need everybody to focus. I wanna take a moment, I wanna talk about—I wanna talk about memory. No, better yet, I wanna talk about selective memory. You see whatever happens here tonight may as well never have happened at all because this circle's about as far as it's ever gonna go. In other words, forget everything." Doug chuckles "Doug I'm serious. I got a wife and kid. Okay, good or bad, we don't remember so we got nothing to talk about. Nothing, guys. Nothing. Deal?"

"Deal." Doug said

"Deal." Stu and Melinda agreed.

"Perfect. Alan, come here, buddy."Phil said.

"Get in here, crazy." Stu said as Alan rejoined the group, still sucking on his hand. Phil started to pour more shots.

"All right, to a night we'll never remember but the five of us will never forget."

They all raise their glasses.

"Hey, thanks, guys." Doug said as they all down their shots, ready for the night ahead of them.

**A/N: Here is the second chapter :) **

**Firstly thank you to **_**FeliciaFelicis**_** and **_**SmillyReaper**_**, for their reviews, which are the reason I updated :D not many people seem to take the time to review so, thanks a heap.**

**B. Mel's boyfriend is a jerk.**

**3. I don't think that "Girly Things" are stupid, I just don't like them. I'm one of those girls, who wears Converse with everything, and I don't wear make-up or heels. And if my male best friend was getting married I would force him to take me to the bach-party, because I seriously think it would be awesome. (If you knew me personally, it wouldn't be a surprise.) **

**iv) Thank you for everyone who reads my story. I'm always so worried that my stories suck, and that no one will like it, so thank you. And I do encourage you to review. I like feedback :D**

**So, stay safe, happy reading and I will update when I get a free moment. Two chapters up, I might as well finish the story. **

**-MercurioC**


	3. Chapter 3

Melinda was in darkness. Nothing but the blackest black. Then, at the sound of a crying baby, she jolted awake, her head throbbing like hell. She tried standing, her head spinning almost causing her to fall back to the ground, but she managed to stand on shaky legs and wobble from the room to see three of her friends standing around a closet, staring at something within it. She staggered over to them, tripping on her two feet and expecting to hit the ground when Phil caught her.

"Jesus, Mel, you alright?"

"Fine. Just... Uh..." She started to say when a baby cried, turning their attention back to the closet.

"Whose fucking baby is that?" Phil asked.

"Alan, are you sure you didn't see anyone else in the suite?" Stu turned to Alan.

"Yeah, I checked all the rooms. No one's here. Check it's collar or something." Alan replied.

"Shh. Shh. It's okay, baby." Stu said to the baby, trying to calm him. Melinda stepped away from Phil and over to the baby, crouching next to him.

"Hey there. It's alright." She said as she picked him up, cradling him in her arms and standing back up, the baby in her arms making her steady. "Shhh. Everything will be okay."

"Guys, we don't have time for this. Let's go hook up with Doug, we'll deal with the baby later." Phil said.

"Phil, we're not gonna leave a baby in the room. There's a fucking tiger in the bathroom." Stu argued.

"It's not our baby."

"Yeah, I gotta side with Stu on this one." Alan stated.

"All right, fine. Okay, we'll take it with us. Could you at least just find some pants?" Phil said as he walked away.

Melinda stood there staring at the baby, rocking him in her arms. Stu stood there looking at her, sadness in her eyes. She looked up at him and saw the look. "Just say it Stu." She said to him, knowing why he was looking at her like that.

"Are you okay? The baby must be bringing up some bad memories." He said, clearly worried for his friend.

"I'm fine Stu, holding this baby isn't going to get me upset. Just drop it okay." She walked over to the couch, sitting down while she waited for the others to get ready. Phil sat in the chair next to the couch, staring at her.

"Did Stu say there was a tiger in the bathroom?" Melinda asked as she looked up at him.

"Yeah." He replied, looking out the window.

"What happened last night?"

"I have no fucking idea." He looked at her, frowning. "Why are you wearing my shirt?"

Melinda looked down and saw that she was only wearing Phil's black shirt from the night before, glad that it was baggy enough to cover her and that her strapless bra was still in place. "What the hell?" She stood up and walked towards her room as Alan came out with pants on.

"Hey, Alan could you grab that baby carrier please." She asked him, he nodded and did what she asked, handing her the baby carrier. She handed him the baby before she started to strap the carrier to his chest. "Okay, I want you to look after the baby. I would but I..."

"Doug told me what happened in college." Alan said to her as she made sure the carrier was secure.

"Did he now? So much for not telling anyone. Just don't tell Phil please." She said as she placed the baby in the carrier. "You're all set. I'm gonna get some pants on. See you in a bit."

She turned and walked into her room, not shocked that it was a complete mess. Her pillows and sheets were scattered all over the place along with empty bottles of beer and a few condom wrappers. She also noticed her dress was on the floor next to her underwear, which were slightly ripped like they were pulled off in a hurry. Shaking her head, she walked over to her bag and pulled out her jeans from the day before along with clean underwear. Pulling them on, she felt pain shoot through her wrist. She looked down and her eyes opened in shock. On her wrist was a heart with '_Phil' _written in cursive script. "What the fuck." She yelled.

"What's wrong Mel?" Stu asked her as he walked into her room. She just showed him her wrist. "Holy shit."

"How the fuck am I going to explain this?" She asked him quickly.

"No idea. Just hid it and get it removed after the wedding or something. Come on, we have to get going." He said as he exited the room as Melinda tried to find her shoes, but having no luck.

She walked from her room to see the others waiting by the door, "Have you lot seen my shoes?"

"Forget them, let's just go find Doug." Phil said to her as Alan and Stu walked out the door.

"Why? Where is he?" Melinda asked her brow knitted in worry.

"We're hoping he is at the pool, so come on and let's go."

8~8

Melinda was sitting at the table with Phil and Alan, her head resting on the table as she tried to ignore the throbbing pain that pounded her skull.

"Hey, Phil, look." Alan laughed. "He's jacking his little weenis."

"Pull yourself together, man." Phil said to him.

"Not at the table, Carlos."

"I looked everywhere." Stu said as he sat down next to Melinda at the table. "Gym, casino, front desk. Nobody's seen Doug. He's not here." Melinda raised her head from the table to look at him, her eyes showing a hit of panic.

"He's fine. He's a grown man. Seriously, Stu, you gotta calm down. Here, have some juice." Phil said placing a glass of juice in front of him. Stu gagged and threw up, causing Melinda to scoot closer to Phil.

"Eww, Stu. Are you alright?" Melinda asked.

"I can't have juice right now." He said was all he said.

"Okay. All right. Let's just track this thing." Phil coughed as he put a pen to a napkin. "What's the last thing we remember doing last night?" Melinda slammed her head back on the table with a groan, the throbbing growing.

"Well, the first thing was we were on the roof and we were having those shots of Jager." Alan said as Stu retched and coughed.

"And then we ate dinner at The Palm. Right?"

"That's right." Alan agreed "And then we played craps at the Hard Rock, and I think Doug was there."

"That sounds right. No, no. He definitely was." Phil said as he wrote it down.

"You know what, guys? I don't even remember going to dinner." Stu said.

"I know. What the fuck? I don't think I've ever been this hung-over." Phil said as he leaned back in his chair.

"After the Hard Rock, I blacked out. It was like emptiness." Alan said laughing.

"Alan you idiot." Melinda said as she raised her head from the table.

"Okay. We have up until ten pm so that gives us a twelve-hour window where we could have lost him. Hey Mel, could you do your weird twin voodoo shit to see where he is." Phil asked her as he chuckled.

"Fuck you Phil. Now isn't the time for your idiot jokes. My brother is missing." She said, glaring at him.

"I know, I'm sorry." He said as he placed a hand on her back trying to comfort her. "We'll find him."

"What is this?" Alan asked holding something up in front of him.

"Oh, my God. That is my tooth." Stu reached out and grabbed it "Why do you have that? What else is in your pockets?"

"This is a good thing. No. Check your pockets. Check your pockets." Phil said as the three guys checked for clues as Melinda just sat there. "Do you have anything?"

"I have an ATM receipt from the Bellagio. Eleven-oh-five for eight-hundred dollars! I am so fucked." Stu said as Melinda patted him on the shoulder.

"I have a valet ticket from Caesars. Looks like we got in at Five-fifthteen am" Alan said.

"Oh, shit. We drove last night?" Phil said, placing his head in his hands while Alan laughed.

"Driving drunk. Classic. What's on your arm?" Alan asked Phil pointing at his arm.

"What the fuck is that?"

"Jesus, Phil. You were in the hospital last night." Stu stated as Melinda placed her head back on the table when tears threatened to escape.

"I guess so, yeah."

"You okay?" Alan asked him concerned.

"Yeah, Alan. I'm fine." Phil turned to see Melinda silently shaking. He placed a hand on her back.

"What the hell is going on?" Stu asked.

"Well, Stu, Stu, this is a good thing. We have a lead now." Phil said, motioning to the hospital bracelet before placing his hand back on Melinda's back. "Hey, are you okay Mel?" he asked her in a hushed whisper. She lifted her head and nodded, looking him in the eyes. He could see faint tear streaks down her cheeks.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Let's just find Doug." She told him as she stood from her chair and walked away.

8~8

"So, uh, are you sure you're qualified to be taking care of that baby?" Stu asked Alan as they waited for the car.

"What are you talking about? I've found a baby before." Alan replied.

"You found a baby before?"

"Yeah."

"Where?"

"Coffee Bean."

"Wait, what?" Stu asked. Melinda was trying to suppress her laughter as Phil walked over to them.

"Hey, Phil? Look, I don't think Doug would want us to take the Mercedes." Alan said, concerned.

"Relax, we'll be careful." Phil said in his carefree way

"You see, my dad is crazy about that car. He left Doug in charge-"

"Alan. We've got bigger problems here. Doug could be in the hospital, he could be hurt. Okay? Let's worry about the car later." Phil said making Melinda's smiling face fell at the idea of her brother being hurt. She felt panic hit again. "Shit, I'm sure he is fine Mel." He added when he saw her face, placing an arm around her and squeezing her shoulder, trying to make her feel better.

"Uh, guys? Check it out." Stu said, pointing behind them. They all turned to see workers trying to take a mattress of a statue.

"Is that the mattress from Doug's room?" Alan asked.

"What the fuck?" Phil, he walked over to a man by the boot of a car "Hey, man, what's going on here?"

"Some asshole threw his bed out the window last night." The man replied as he looked to where Phil pointed.

"No shit."

"Yeah. Some guys just can't handle Vegas." He said walking off to his car.

"Oh God." Stu said as he turned away.

"It's gonna be okay, Stu." Phil said as he patted him on the back. "How the hell did we manage that?" he said as he looked at the mattress again.

Right at that moment, a cop car pulled up in front of them. "Here's your car, officers." The valet said to them. Melinda's eyes opened in shock.

"Oh, God." Stu said when he saw the car.

"All right, everybody act cool. All right, don't say a word. Come on, let's just get in and go. Come on." Phil said walking over to the car. "Stu, you got a five?"

"No."

"I'll hit you on the way back."

"Thank you, sir." The valet said as Melinda climbed into the back of the car behind the driver's seat, shutting the door with a sigh. She saw the other back door open and the baby cried causing her to regret leaving Alan with the baby. This was going to be a long day.

**A/N: I remember when I was writing this. I looked online for the transcript but couldn't find one so I watched the movie over and over and over again until I got it right. But I could still have some mistakes. **

**Thank you to everyone who reads this story. Extra thanks to those who Follow, Favourite and Review it :D You all make it worth it. Thank you very much.**

**But I just want to say, all those times I watched **_**Hangover**_** I never got sick of it. I love movies like that, where I can just watch it over and over. Bradley Cooper helped there a bit too ;) hahah**

**Please Enjoy. **

**-MercurioC**


	4. Chapter 4

"This is so illegal." Stu said as they sat in traffic on their way to the hospital.

"Can't you see the fun part of anything." Phil said drinking his coffee.

"Yeah, we're stuck in traffic in a stolen police car with a missing child in the back seat. Which part of this is fun?"

"I think the cop-car part's pretty cool" Alan said from the back where Melinda was staring out the window trying to tell herself that Doug was fine. That they would find him.

"Thank you, Alan. It is cool." Phil said, looking at him in the mirror. "Doug would love it. Come on." He beeped the horn before turning on the sirens. "Check this out."

"Oh, no. No, Phil. No, Phil. Don't do this!" Stu pleaded. Melinda looked around in time to see Phil pull the cruiser up onto the sidewalk, alarming the pedestrians. "Just try to call more attention to us."

Phil picked up the PA hand piece, "Attention. Attention, please. Move out of the way. I repeat, please disperse."

"Phil, stop the car, I wanna get out. Stop the car, I wanna get out. Pull over."

"Relax Stu. Let the man have his fun." Melinda said as she and Alan laughed. She'd rather be laughing then crying.

"Ma'am, in the leopard dress, you have an amazing rack." Phil said over the PA causing Melinda to laugh harder.

"Get off the sidewalk! Get off the sidewalk!" Stu yelled out the window to those in the street.

"I should have been a fucking cop."

8~8

They had reached the hospital and got out of the car. As they walked towards the hospital, Melinda froze, staring at the building before her. Stu and Phil stopped in their tracks when they realised she was just standing there, unmoving.

"Mel, you alright?" Stu asked her, moving to stand next to her.

"Hmm, uh, yeah. I just hate hospitals." She replied tearing her eyes from the building to look at him.

"How about you stay in the car then? We shouldn't be too long" Stu told her, a look of understanding in his eyes.

"Yeah, thanks, I think I will." She said, sending him a sad smile, as she opened the front passenger door and got back into the car. She watched as the guys walked into the hospital, her eyes swimming with tears. She leaned her head onto the head rest and closed her eyes, allowing her mind to shut down.

_She could hear the sound of something dripping; she was tired, her eyes felt heavy._

"_Is she okay doctor?" She heard someone ask. No, not someone, it was Doug._

"_She'll be fine with time, but she lost the baby." A woman said to him, her voice professional but sad all the same. "She will need time to recover, physically and mentally. And you'll have to keep a close eye on her. She will need as much support as she can get." Melinda heard footsteps and then the door shutting._

"_I'm so sorry Mel." Sadness in his voice, as he grabbed her hand. "I'm so, so sorry."_

Melinda jumped awake when three doors slammed shut, she looked around and saw the guys had returned and were staring at her. She felt warmth on her face and realised she had been crying.

"You okay Mel?" Phil asked her, concern on his face.

"Yeah, just a bad dream." She whispered. "How'd it go in there?"

"Nothing major. Just a mild concussion and some bruising. Oh and a large amount of Ruphylin was found in my system." She looked at him in concern. "You know. Roffies."

"I know what Ruphylin is Phil. Who the hell gave you Roffies?" She asked.

"No idea, but before you asked, no I wasn't raped." He said, making her laugh. "We have a new lead. Turns out we all were at a wedding last night at the Best Little Chapel." He said starting the car and driving off.

8~8

"What about the baby?" Alan asked as they got out of the car at the chapel.

"Leave him in the car. We're gonna be five minutes." Phil said.

"We're not leaving a baby in the car." Stu argued.

"He'll be fine. I cracked the window."

"No fucking way Phil. You don't leave a baby in the car. You of all people should know that that is bad parenting." Melinda told him, anger on her voice.

"It's not our baby Mel."

"I don't give a fuck, he is still a baby and you don't leave him in the car alone. I'm staying out here with him."

"Fine." He said as he slammed his door, walking towards the chapel, mumbling something about women. Melinda sat in the back with the baby who smiled at her.

"You are so cute." She said to him as she smiled. He stared up at her with his large eyes, warming her heart.

"You know. I was going to be a mum. It was during college, I'd fallen pregnant with this amazing guy's baby and I was so excited. But then something bad happened and I lost..." She said, a tear rolling down her cheek. "I didn't even get to tell the father."

She sighed. "I bet your mum is really missing you and is worried like hell. We'll get you to her soon, as soon as we find out who she is."

They just sat there for awhile when Melinda looked up to see the guys heading towards them carrying boxes. She watched with a frown as they went to the boot and opened it, loading the stuff up in the back. She hoped out of the car and walked over to them with the baby in her arms.

"Torch it? Who are you?" Phil asked Stu.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" Melinda asked as she stood next to Phil.

"I don't know, Phil. Apparently I'm a guy who marries complete strangers." He said, not hearing Melinda's question.

"You got married. Congrats Stu. What's her name?" She laughed.

"No, it's not something to congratulate Mel. This whole situation is completely fucked. These mugs." He says as he smashed one on the ground. "This hat." Grabbing the hat from Alan's head, throwing it at the ground, ignoring Alan's protest. "This car. It's all evidence of a night that never happened. That is why we're torching all of it." Stu finished. Melinda looked at him like he was going mad.

"Whoa, I'm a schoolteacher, I got a family, okay? I'm all for secrecy, but I'm not gonna torch a fucking cop car." Phil said to him.

"Fine. I'll do it."

"Can I help?" Alan asked.

"Yeah, thanks."

"And how exactly are you guys gonna do that?" Phil asked.

"Easy. You just pour kerosene over a ferret, light it on both ends, put it in. They're attracted to the gas lines." Alan said causing Melinda to look at him in horror.

"What? A ferret?" Stu asked

"Yeah. Or a tamed raccoon, but it's a lot of trouble."

Melinda shook her head and went back to the car, regretting getting out in the first place. She placed the baby back into the back seat and hoped in the front where she waited for the guys to come back. She heard a phone ring causing her to look through the rear view mirror in time to see Stu pulling out his phone. Phil shut the boot and walked to the driver's side door.

"Who is it?" Melinda asked Phil as he got into the car.

"Melissa." He replied. Melinda face pulled into an expression of disgust as Alan hoped into the back seat next to the baby.

"I can't believe he is still dating that evil cow." She said, making Phil laugh.

"It'd be so cool if I could breast-feed you know?" Alan said as he leaned forward, talking to Melinda and Phil through the wire mesh. Melinda just stared at Alan, shaking her head when Stu climbed into the back seat.

"What the fuck..." Phil said as an orange car blocked them from behind. Melinda looked in the mirror to see a man had stepped out carrying a baseball bat. He smacked the bat on the side of the car, yelling at them to get out.

"Where the hell is he?" The man yelled.

"Hey, easy, easy. I think we're looking for the same guy, okay?" Phil said, and then another man hit the windshield, causing it to smash, sending cracks all over the surface. Melinda screamed as she shielded her face, curling up on the seat. "Hey what the hell man." Phil yelled. The baby in the back started crying.

"Where is he?" asked the man who had smashed the window.

"What are you talking about?" Phil yelled, panicked.

"Sir, can you please start the tractor so we can get out of here?" Stu asked from the back.

"I'm trying to, but we're fucking blocked." Phil raised his voice at him.

"Hey! There's a baby on board!" Alan yelled from the back.

"Phil, he's got a gun!" Alan cried as one of the men pulled out a gun. Stu hung up the phone.

"No shit he's got a gun!" Phil yelled back. "Come on." Phil said as he started to drive the car forward, running over the man's foot, causing him to fire his gun. "Fuck! Shit!"

"He shot Eddie!" Stu screamed.

"Fuck this shit!" Phil put the car in reverse and pulled out of the car park, hitting the orange car and a bus stop along the way "Fuck! Fuck!"

"Go, go, go!"

"Okay. Oh, that was some sick shit!" Phil said as they speed down the road. Melinda sat with her head on her knees trying to calm her breathing.

"Who were those guys?" Alan asked.

"We're gonna be okay. Everthing's gonna be okay." Stu said to the crying baby, trying to calm him. He turned to Phil and screeched "What the fuck is going on?!"

"I have no idea." Phil replied as Stu's phone rang again. "Why don't you just let that go to voicemail?"

"ha-ha-ha. That's a fake laugh, by the way."

8~8

"Mel, you okay?" Phil asked as they reached their next destination.

"Yeah, I'm fine Phil." She replied as she lifted her head up and looked out the cracked window.

"You sure?" He said, placing a hand on her shoulder. She turned and smiled at him.

"I'll survive." They stared at each other for a moment, before Stu cleared his throat.

"We're all fine. Can we go now?" He said as Melinda looked back out the window.

"Yeah, let's go meet your wife." Phil said as he opened the car door stepping out, the other followed, Alan carrying the baby.

"It's got, uh, Ted Danson and Magnum P.I. and the Jewish actor." Alan said as they walked along a row of rooms. Melinda had her arms crossed over her chest as she walked; looking at the ground to make sure she didn't step on anything that could hurt her still bare feet.

"Shut up, Alan. What room was it again?" Stu asked

"It's 825." Phil replied.

Melinda looked up as a woman stepped out of the room talking on the phone, "I found him, I'll call you back." She hung up and turned to them. "Thank God, he's with his father. I was freaking out. I missed you, sweetie." She grabbed the baby and kissed his cheek then turned to Stu. "And I missed you." She said before kissing him passionately. "What the hell happened to you guys?"

"Actually, we were hoping you could tell us." Phil said.

"What do you mean? I got up this morning, I went to get you guys all coffee and I came back and you were gone. Why are you being so quiet?" She asked Stu.

"I'm not being quiet." Stu replied.

"Ha, ha. You're so cute. Yeah, I gotta feed Tyler. Come inside, you guys." She walked into her room leaning Stu by the hand.

"Did you hear that? Baby's name is Tyler." Alan said clearly upset.

"Yeah. I thought he looked more like a Carlos too, bud." Phil said patting Alan on the back before stepping into the room, Melinda following them in.

8~8

"Okay, what's up? You guys are acting weird." Jade said as she poured a drink one handed while holding Tyler.

"Look, it's Jade, right?" Phil asked sitting on the couch between Melinda and Alan.

"Very funny, Phil." Jade said as she walked over.

"Right, Jade, uh, ahem, you remember our friend Doug."

"Are you kidding?" She said handing Stu the drink. "He was the best man at our wedding."

"Exactly. Well, we can't find him, and we're getting worried."

"Oh, my God, that is so Doug." She laughed. Stu suddenly spat his drink all over the baby. "ha, ha. Oh." Tyler started to cry. "Oh, sweetie, I'm – I'm gonna go clean him off. It's all right, Daddy didn't mean it." She left the room.

"Oh, my God." Stu said

"What the fuck, man, you gotta hold it together." Phil told him.

"Holy shit."

"She is super hot. You should be proud of herself."

"She's wearing my grandmother's ring!"

"What?"

"The ring I'm gonna give to Melissa. You remember, my grandmother's Holocaust ring?"

"What the hell? You're proposing to Melissa?" Melinda asked in shock.

"Fuck. Okay." Phil said.

"She's wearing it." Stu said.

"I didn't know they gave out rings at the Holocaust." Alan said causing Phil and Melinda to stare at him in disbelief.

"He's okay." Jade said when she returned.

"Oh, good." Phil said.

"He was just hungry, he's fine."

"Oh, good. About last night, uh, ahem, do you remember the last time you saw Doug?"

"Uh, I haven't seen him since the wedding."

"The wedding. Okay. Great. And, uh, we can't re—What time was that at?" Phil said as he got out the napkin that he was writing the timeline of events on.

"Well, it was, um..." Jade said as she pulled her breast out to feed Tyler, Phil cleared his throat. "I guess it was around one, because I had to go back to work and finish my shift. And then when I got out I headed over to the hotel with Tyler."

"And was Doug there then?"

"I didn't see Doug because you guys were passed out. The room was a wreck. I heard you and Mel getting it on in her room, you two were so loud. So I just curled up next to Stu."

"What?" Melinda almost yelled. "I slept with Phil?"

"Yeah. You guys were making out most of the time I was with you. He was even saying he'd leave his wife if you agreed to marry him."

"Again... What?"

"I've got a question" Stu interrupted, "Um, you said when your shift ended. Does that mean you're a nurse? Or a blackjack dealer?"

"You know this. I'm a stripper." Jade said in her bubbly voice.

"Mm-Hm."

"Well, technically I'm an escort, but stripping's a great way to meet the clients."

"Smart." Phil said.

"Savvy." Stu said

"But that's all in the past, now that I married a doctor." Jade stated.

"I'm just a dentist."

Before Jade could ask, the door was broken in and two cops appeared causing everybody to jump and Tyler to start crying. "Las Vegas Police! Freeze! Shut that baby up! Shut that baby up!"

"Okay, Okay, okay." Phil said with his hands raised. What the hell was going on?

**A/N: Okay. I hope you like this chapter. I was reading through it before I posted it, editing bits here and there, but I am still unsure if some parts sound right. If not, let me know so I can try and fix it when I have finished the story. **

**To the very lovely Reviewers. Your words make it worth posting these chapters. Thank you very much. **

**And FeliciaFelicis, You can babble all you want, I love the feedback and it made me smile when I read your review. I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes the idea of a bach-party haha and all the make-up I own was given to me, mainly by my very girly sister-in-law, who is always wanting me to be more like a girl. But it's hard to be girly when I've grown up with three elder brothers and a mum who was a tomboy, never really had a girly role model :D**

**Also, I may or may not be able to post much this week. Running very low on internet and can't afford to get more until next Monday. Sorry to those who are enjoying my story, but I will post when I can.**

**Thank you for the ongoing support. **

**-MercurioC**


	5. Chapter 5

They were at the police station, handcuffed together. Phil was by the phone, calling Tracy, while the other three sat on the bench. Melinda was staring in front of her, watching as a school group walked in their direction.

"So after we take the mug shots, we bring them down here where they wait to be interviewed by the arresting officers. Trust me, kids, you do not wanna be sitting here on these benches. We call this place _Loserville_." Said the police man leading the tour causing the children laughed. Melinda leaned her head on Stu's shoulder, closing her eyes.

"You alright Mel?" He asked her.

"Totally. Having the time of my life." She replied sarcastically.

"Hey, Tracy! It's Phil." Phil said with the phone to his ear. "We are at the spa at the hotel.—of course he's around. Why wouldn't he be around?—Um... We made a deal, no talking to girlfriends or wives. So we're all calling each other's.—Uh, she went shopping I think, you know, probably of buying some shoes or something." Melinda looked over at him in disbelief knowing that Tracy was bound to catch the lie. "Yeah, probably a new pair of sneakers of something, her purple ones got wet when she fell into the pool.—Uh, you are not gonna believe this. We got comped an extra night at the hotel. – Yeah. The suite is- It's ridiculous. It's out of control. There's , like, room service and a butler. I mean, just the works. So, we're thinking of spending the night here and then we're gonna come back totally relaxed in the morning.—Yeah, that's why we're gonna get up real early, and we'll be back in plenty of time."

"Wenneck, Price, Garner, Billings. Room 3." An officer called to them.

"Okay, Trace, I gotta go. We'll talk to you later." Phil said and he hung up the phone, the other three getting up and trying to walk towards the waiting police officer, only to end up in a tangle.

"Come on, chop-chop."

"Okay, spin around." Phil and Stu told Alan who moved and somehow caused them to get into a bigger tangle.

"Wait a second." Phil said.

"We'll go over." Stu said as he and Melinda climbed over the other two guys arms.

"We got it. Alan, just relax. And the just—There we go." Phil said as the three of them walked off dragging Alan behind them.

8~8

The four of them sat at the table, cuffs removed, Melinda was sitting in between Alan and Phil, rubbing her wrists. She looked over and saw Phil staring at her tattoo. He opened his mouth to say something but before he could the male arresting officer, Franklin, walked into the room. "Lady and Gentlemen. We've got some good news, and we've got some bad news. The good news is we found your Mercedes."

"That's great news." Stu said.

"That's great. See?" Phil chucked

"Yeah, it's over at impound right now. We picked it up at 5 am this morning parked in the middle of Las Vegas Boulevard" Franklin continued.

"In the middle. That's weird."

"Yeah, that is weird. There was also a note. It says, uh, '_Couldn't find a meter but here's four bucks.'_ The bad news is we can't get you in front of a judge until Monday morning"

"Oh, no, uh, officer, that's just impossible. No, we need to be in L.A. tomorrow for a wedding."

"You stole a police car." The policewoman, Garden, reminded them.

"We didn't steal anything. Um, we found it." Stu said.

"Yeah, if anything, we deserve a reward or something, like a trophy." Alan said, Melinda just stared at him shaking her head.

"I see assholes like you every day." Franklin told them.

"Every fucking day." Garden agreed.

"Let's go to Vegas, we'll all get drunk and laid! Woo-hoo"

" ! Woo-hoo."

"Let's steal a cop car, because it'd be really fucking funny."

"Think you gonna get away with it? Not up in here."

"Not up in here!" Franklin shouted.

"Oh. Uh—Sir... If I may, um... I'm assuming that that squad car belongs to one of you." Phil said, Melinda knew he was going to try and charm their way out.

"Yeah."

"Yeah. Look, I'm not a cop. I'm no hero. I'm a schoolteacher. But if one of my kids went missing on a field trip... That would look really bad on me."

"What are you getting at?"

"Yeah, Phil, what are you getting at?" Stu asked.

"No one wants to look bad. We gotta get to a wedding and you guys don't need people talking about how some obnoxious tourists borrowed your squad car last night. But look, the point is, I think we can work out a deal. Discreetly of course, ma'am. What do you say?" Phil finished as the officers looked like they were considering his proposal. Garden looked down at her clipboard, sliding it to her partner and pointed at something causing him to laugh.

"Let me ask you a question: Do, uh, any of you have a heart condition or anything like that?" He asked them.

"Uh, no." Phil said as they shook their heads.

8~8

"Okay, kids, you're in for a real treat today. These gentlemen and this fine lady have kindly volunteered to demonstrate how a stun gun is used to subdue a suspect." Franklin said to a room full of students.

"Wait a sec. What?" Phil said.

"Now, there's two ways to use a stun gun. Up close and personal." Franklin said as he zapped Stu in the neck with the stun gun, causing him to scream and fall to the ground wriggling in pain. The children laughed and Phil pulled Melinda behind him.

"What the fuck?" Phil said.

"Okay, who wants to stun this lady?" Franklin asked the students as he pointed to Melinda. "Uh, how about you little girl." He said pointing to a short girl with red hair before turning back to Melinda. "Come here lady."

"Officer, please, she's a woman, can't you cut her some slack." Phil pleaded.

"It's fine Phil, I can take it." She said to him as she walked over, standing before the little girl who was handed the stun gun. "Make it quick love." The girl nodded and stunned Melinda above her stomach, causing her to scream in pain and fall to the floor on her knees where she wrapped her arms around her and leaned forwards.

"Fuck!" Phil said as he ran a hand through his hair.

"ha, ha. Nice." Franklin said. "Alright. Or, you can shoot it from a distance." He said, clipping an attachment onto the gun. "Now, do I have any volunteers? Wanna come up here and do some shooting? Huh? All right, how about you, young lady? Come on up here. All right." A girl with black hair stood up and came to the front of the room. "Let's go, handsome, come on." Alan started to step forward. "Not you, fat Jesus, slide it on back. You, pretty boy. All right, it's real simple. All you gotta do is point, aim and shoot. All right?"

Phil walked in front of the girl. "Okay, look. You don't really wanna do this."

"You can do this. Just focus." Franklin told her.

"Don't listen to this maniac. Let's think this thing through."

"Finish him!" The little girl shot the gun, hitting Phil in the groin.

"Oh, fuck." Phil screamed as he fell to his knees before falling onto his side.

"Yeah! Right in the nuts! That was beautiful. Well done. Give her a hand, everybody. Good job. Well done. Good job. That was great." Franklin laughed as he took the stun gun away from the little girl.

"Good. Hey, we got one charge left. Anyone wanna do some shooting up here? How about you, big man? Come on up here" Melinda heard the cop say as she moved over to comfort Phil.

"Are you alright?" She whispered ignoring what was happening in the room before them.

"Yeah. Fine." Phil said his voice quiet and laced with pain. "Are you okay?"

Melinda smiled at him. "I'm okay. More worried about you then anything. That little girl got you pretty bad."

"I'll be fine. Just get me a drink or something. Maybe a beer." He tried to laugh only to screw his face up in pain again.

"Same old Phil." She said looking up when she heard a thump and saw Alan passed out on the table.

"Some of these big boys, you gotta give them two shots. All right, kids, who wants to get their fingerprints done? Come on, let's go." Franklin said, leading the children from the room.

"You guys can leave when your friend wakes up." Garden told them before she left the room laughing. Melinda stood and stumbled over to the table where Alan was passed out.

"Hey, Alan. Alan!" She yelled shaking him but he wouldn't wake. She looked over at the other two who were still on the ground, they shrugged. She turned back to Alan and slapped his face as hard as she could, and he jumped awake, eyes wide, a red handprint on his face. "You okay Alan?" she asked him like nothing had just happened. He nodded. "All right then. Let's go boys before we get used for target practice."

8~8

Melinda sat next to Phil, Stu standing on her other side, as they waited for the car. She was staring at the ground half listening to Stu complain. "Fuck those guys, you hear me? That was bullshit. I'm telling everybody we stole a cop car."

"They let us go, who cares?" Phil said.

"I care! You can't just do that. You can't just tase people because you think it's funny. That's police brutality. I'm getting a soda. Do you guys want anything?"

"No." Phil said as Melinda looked up and shook her head. Stu walked away. "My man doesn't shut up. Jesus Christ." Phil stared at Melinda's wrist again before gently grabbing it. "What's this?"

"It's a tattoo. I woke up with it." She replied, her voice emotionless.

"It says my name."

"No shit Sherlock. After all the crap we've apparently been doing you're surprised? Don't worry, I'll hide it and then get it removed after the wedding."

Phil nodded and let go of her wrist before turning to Alan. "Alan, you okay?"

"I'm just worried. What if something happened to Doug? Something bad." The man replied.

"Come on, you can't think like that."

"I mean, what if he's dead?" At that Melinda looked at him, tears starting to form in her eyes as she thought about it. "I can't afford to lose anybody close to me again. It hurts too much. I was so upset when my grandpa died."

"Oh, I'm s—How'd he die?" Phil asked him.

"World War II."

"Died in battle?"

"No, he was skiing in Vermont. It was just during World War II."

"Alan... Doug is fine."

"Well, why hasn't he called?"

"I don't know, but we're gonna figure it out."

"We'd better." Melinda said. Phil looked at her, placing an arm around her shoulder in an effort to comfort her.

"I'll tell you another thing, 6-1 odds our car is beat to shit." Stu said as he returned with his soda.

"Stu, not now." Phil warned him.

"No, how much do you wanna bet it's fucked up beyond recognition?"

Phil stood up, "That's enough. Alan's seriously worried, okay? Let's not freak him out any more." He went a stood next to Melinda facing the building. Stu walked over to Alan.

"Sorry, Alan. You know what? We'll search the car for clues and everything's gonna be okay."

They heard the car approaching. "Oh, shit. I can't watch. Just tell me what it looks like." Phil said.

"Not looking. Not looking. Wow. All right."

"Oh, thank God." Phil said as he saw the car in perfect condition. He helped Melinda up. "You see? Its gonna be all right." He told them before getting into the car.

**A/N: UPDATE! I managed to get this up without cutting into my internet too much. So, yay.  
**

**FeliciaFelicis, My dad always told me that I looked beautiful without it so naturally, I listened to him. But I am so glad you are enjoying my story. Your reviews are great, they encourage me to upload more. Maybe I'll try and upload another one later if I can. **

**I was never too good at writing romance. In high school, all my stories were kind of depressing. Something bad always happened, or someone always died. Never really been good at writing happy things, and most of the time, romance is a happy thing. **

**Anyway. Thank you to everyone for the ongoing support with all the favourites and followers and best of all reviewers. Please do review. I love to know what you are thinking. :D **

**-MercurioC**


	6. Chapter 6

They drove along the road, Phil and Stu in the front, while they all looked for clues of what had happened the previous night. "Anything?" Phil asked.

"Hmm, I got a cigar." Stu said.

"Oh, I found, uh—These are some black shoes." Alan said holding the shoe.

"They women's shoes?" Phil asked.

"I don't know."

Melinda took the shoe. "Men's size 6." She said handing them to Stu in the front.

"Whose are those?" Phil asked.

"I don't know." Stu replied, looking at the shoe.

"That's weird."

"What is this, a snakeskin?" Alan asked as he held up a used condom, Melinda backed into the side of the car.

"Oh, come on! Ew!" Stu said as Alan threw it at him.

"That's a used condom, Alan." Phil said

"Oh, God." Stu said as he threw it back at Alan, hitting him in the face.

"Get it out of the car."

"Gross, it's wet."

"I don't want the thing." Alan said as he placed it on Phil's shoulder, Melinda started to laugh.

"Hey! Come on. I got jizz on me. Jesus Christ, Guys!" Phil complained as he wound down the window.

"Get it out." Stu said to him.

"Fuck!" Phil said, throwing it out the window and pulling the car over. "All right, what the fuck, man? We gotta get this shit together, guys!" He yelled when the car was in park. Then they heard thumping coming from the back.

"What was that?" Alan asked.

"It's in the trunk. Doug's in the trunk." Stu shouted.

"Oh, fuck! Holy Shit!" Phil said as he and Stu raced from the car followed closely by Alan and Melinda.

"Holy shit! Open it! Open it! Open it!"

"okay, okay, okay."

They opened the trunk and a naked man jumped out right onto Phil holding a crowbar and smacking him in the back with it. When Phil managed to get him off the naked man hit Stu in the stomach making him lean forward then he smacked him in the back causing him fall to the ground. The naked man turned back to Phil, smacking him across the face, sending him to the ground. Melinda ran around the front of the car, staying far away from the commotion, and over to Stu. "Hey, you all right man?" She asked.

"What do you think?" He shouted at her. Ignoring his outburst she helped him stand and they hobbled over to Phil, while Alan tried to reason with the mad man. When the man threw the crowbar at Alan's head and ran into the distance, Melinda sat Stu down by the car before kneeling next to Phil.

"Are you okay Phil?" she asked him, he looked up at her.

"He didn't get you did he?" he weezed, Melinda laughed.

"You just got beaten up by an angry, naked dude and you're worried about me?"

"Yes. What the fuck was that?" he said from his spot on the ground.

"I have internal bleeding. Somebody call 911." Stu complained, now lying on the ground, moaning as Melinda helped Phil sit up. They sat there, his arm around her shoulder as they leaned against the car.

"Guys, there's something I need to tell you." Alan said to them as he sat against the car. "Last night on the roof, before we went out I slipped something in our Jagermeister." They all looked at him.

"What?" Phil said.

"I'm sorry, I fudged up, guys."

"You drugged us?" Stu said, sitting up from the ground.

"No, I didn't drug you. I was told it was Ecstasy."

"How is that not drugging us?" Melinda asked.

"Well, who told you it was Ecstasy?" Phil asked sitting up and removing his arm from Melinda's shoulder.

"The guy I bought it from at the liquor store."

"Why would you give us Ecstasy?" Stu asked.

"Cause I wanted everybody to have a good time and I knew you guys wouldn't take it. It was just one hit each. I used to do three hits a night."

"But it wasn't Ecstasy, Alan, it was roofies!" Stu said as he got on his hands and knees.

"You think I knew that, Stu? The guy I bought it from seemed like a real straight shooter."

"I'm sorry. You mean the drug dealer at the liquor store wasn't a good guy?"

"Let's just calm down." Phil said.

"You fucking calm down! He drugged us. I lost a tooth. I married a whore." Stu yelled as he stood up.

"How dare you! She's a nice lady." Alan defended.

"You are such a fucking moron."

"Your language is offensive."

"Fuck you!"

Melinda stood up and looked at Stu. "Who gives a fuck if he drugged us? That was last night and there is nothing we can do about it now. We need to find Doug. Or did you forget that my brother is missing? Did you forget that while you whined about some drunken marriage, or the fact that your tooth is gone? Doug could be _dead_ somewhere and he is far more important than these little problems of yours. He was always there for me Stu, remember. He was there for me when I had my miscarriage, so I can't just sit back, listening to you bitch, when he needs me." She yelled at him before walking to the other side of the car and hoping into the back. She took a deep breath to calm herself as tears fell from her eyes.

"All right, let's just take a deep breath, okay?" She heard Phil say outside the car. "Seriously, this is a good thing guys. At least it's not some stranger who drugged us for God know what reason."

"Yeah, you're right, Phil, it's totally a good thing. We're so much better off now. Here's something I would like to remind you two of: Our best friend Doug is probably face down in a ditch right now with a meth-head butt-fucking his corpse." Stu yelled at him.

"That's highly unlikely." Alan said.

"It's true. Also, Mel, our other best friend, is worried about her brother and all this is reminding her of shit she went through in college which I know she would rather just forget."

"Hey, that does not help. All right, let's get our shit together, guys. And could you tell me what Mel meant about the miscarriage?"

"She never told you? It was during college. She found out she was pregnant, but was really excited about it. She told me and Doug about it. She was happier then I had ever seen her. Then, a while later, she had a miscarriage. She was heartbroken, fell into depression and dropped out."

"Why didn't she ever tell me? I was always closer to her then you were."

"I think you should ask her that. It's not my place to say."

"Fine. Let's go back to the hotel, and I'm gonna make a couple calls. Maybe Doug's back there. Maybe he's asleep. Come on. Let's go." He walked around to the driver's seat and jumped in, looking at Melinda. "Why didn't you tell me?" his voice soft.

She didn't even look at him; she just looked out the window, tears falling down her face. "I'll tell you about it later." She told him, her voice quiet. He nodded and turned around as the other two hopped into the car.

8~8

They got back to the hotel, Phil pulled out the key card when Alan stopped in the hall. "Wait, guys. Guys. What about the tiger? What if he got out?" he whispered.

"Oh, fuck. I keep forgetting about the goddamn tiger. How the fuck did he get in there?" Phil said.

"I don't know, because I don't remember." Stu said looking at Alan.

"Shh. Stu. Stu, keep it down."

"Because one of the, uh, side effects of, uh, roofies is memory loss." Alan told him.

"You are literally too stupid to insult." Stu said to him.

"Thank you."

Melinda just shook her head, arms crossed, hugging her chest.

"Hey." Phil said before he opened the door and walked inside, _'In the air tonight'_ was playing as they entered. "Hey, come on. Did we leave the music on? Hey. Shh. Don't make any sudden movements. Unh. Whoa! Who the hell are you?" he yelled as he ran into a man.

"No, who the hell are you?" The mystery man countered.

"Quiet, quiet." Said a man who was sitting at the piano.

"Mike Tyson?" Phil asked as Mike stood up and walked over.

"Shh. This is my favourite part coming up right now." He started to sing along with the song, the men all walked towards him while Melinda stayed near the door. "Need a chorus line, guys." They started to sing along with Mike before he punched Alan in the side of the face, Melinda looked over in surprise and was glad she has stayed near the door.

"Oh, Jesus!" Phil cried as Alan fell to the floor, knocked out cold. Phil and Stu rushed over to make sure he was okay. "Why did you do that?"

"Mr. Tyson would like to know why is his tiger in your bathroom." The body guard said as he shut of the music.

"Hold on, that was completely unnecessary. I'm a huge fan. When you knocked out Holmes, that was-"

"Explain."

"Look, we were drugged last night. We have no memory of what happened."

"It's true." Stu agreed. "We got in all kinds of trouble last night and now we can't find our friend, her brother." He pointed at Melinda. "And if you wanna kill us, go ahead because I don't care anymore."

"Stu, what are you talking about?"

"What I don't care."

"Why the fuck would you wanna steal his tiger?" the man asked.

"We tend to do dumb shit when we're fucked up." Phil joked.

"I don't believe these guys, man." Mike said.

"Wait, how did you guys find us?"

"One of you dropped your jacket. Found it in the tigers' cage this morning." The man told them, holding up a jacket.

"That's Doug's." Stu said.

"Yeah, Doug" he said as he threw the jacket at Stu. "His wallet and his room key are in there."

"No, that's our missing friend." Phil told them.

"I don't give a fuck."

"Did you guys see him?" Stu asked.

"I was fast asleep." Mike replied.

"Yeah, because if he was up, this shit wouldn't have gone down so smoothly." The other man said.

"Maybe one of the tigers ate his ass like Omar."

"Respect."

"Wha—What happened to Omar?" Phil asked.

"Oh, don't worry about Omar, he's not with us no more." Mike said.

"Okay, I know this is asking a lot but do you think there is any way we could go to your house and just look around see if there's any clues of our friend?"

"Absolutely. How else you think we're gonna get the tiger back anyway? Come on, champ." The man said as he and Mike turned to leave.

"I'm sorry?"

"We're not gonna put it in the Bentley. You brought it here, you bring it back. What you think, about forty minutes?" He said, walking to the door, Melinda stepping out of their way.

"Don't make me come back for him." Mike said before he left.

Stu turned to Phil "That was Mike Tyson."

"Yeah, no shit that was Mike Tyson." Phil said as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm just saying, he's still got it."

"Alan" Phil said as Alan groaned and rolled over. "Bud, are you okay?"

"Oh, my God."

"Shit! Fuck, where'd he get him? Hey." Phil clicked his fingers in front of Alan's face as Melinda moved to sit on the couch, just staring out the window, her eyes blank, falling into her memories.

**A/N: ENTER Flashback. Next chapter is half flashback, so you are warned. **

**You will see Mel during college, when she got knocked up to when she had the miscarriage (But **_**NO**_** sex scene.) **

**So what do you think about her back story?**

**Thank you for the reviews. **

_**FeliciaFelicis**_**, like always, thank you for reviewing, your reviews are fantastic. My dad is only sweet of times haha, he winds me up too, just like the rest of my family. And that line makes me crack up too, it's not a bad thing haha. The whole movie cracks me up. Hope you enjoyed the chapter :D**

_**Hangsover, **_**Thank you for review, I'm glad you areliking it. I spent a lot of time, watching the movie for hours on end, writing down what was happening, tying to get the exact wording. It is meant to be like the movie, with one extra. I would suck at writing them in a new adventure. I've only been in the fanfic game for a year or so. I hope you enjoy the next chapter. The whole flash back is my writing. So please enjoy and again, thank you for reviewing. **

**Please review. Just like these two wonderful users did. Their words are helpful, in so many ways.**

**Thank you all for reading.**

**-MercurioC**


	7. Chapter 7

_Many years ago..._

It was almost midnight; most of the occupants at the campus were sleeping in their dorm rooms, getting rested for the following day's classes. A college student sat, leaning against the wooden panelled walls of the hallway, her arms hugging her knees to her chest as she rested her head upon them. Silent tears rolled down her hidden cheeks.

"Mel?" a voice asked in the dimmed light of the hallway, "Mel? What's wrong?" there was the echo of footsteps as someone walked towards her. She felt them kneel in front of her, placing their hands on her shoulders. "Melinda? It's Phil. Are you okay?"

Melinda looked up to see the owner of the voice, one of her childhood best friends, Phil Wenneck. He stared at her with his incredible blue eyes, concern written over his face. "Mel? What happened?" Her tear stained face looked broken in the dim light that surrounded them. Phil felt his heart fall at the sight of her.

"Let's get you back to your dorm." He carefully picked her up, cradling her in his arms against his chest and carried her down the hall to her room, knocking on the wood with his foot.

"What is it?" Asked a tired and annoyed voice from behind the door.

"Tracy, its Phil. Open up." A few seconds later the door swag open revealing Melinda's roommate, Tracy Garner.

"Phil, this bet- Oh, my God! Melinda, what's wrong?" She cried when she saw the state of her friend, moving out of the way as Phil carried her into the room and laid her down on the bed. He sat down on the edge of her bed as she curled into a ball. "Phil, what's wrong with her?"

"I have no idea. I was walking back to my room when I saw her there, crying outside a room a few doors down." He replied in a hushed voice as he stared at the weeping girl beside him.

"Andrew's room is a few doors away. Was it his?" Tracy asked making him look up at her.

"Andrew? As in her dickhead of a boyfriend Andrew?"

"Yeah, I saw them talking whe—Phil where are you going?"

Phil stormed out of the room and headed back to the door Melinda was crying next, pounding his fist on the door. After the sound of movement within, the door opened to a drowsy dark haired man.

"What the hell Phil? Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"What did you do to Mel?" Phil asked his voice angry.

"That's what this is about? I knew that little bitch would go running to you like she always does."

"She didn't come running to me. I found her sitting by your door."

"She was still there? I told that stupid little bit-" Andrew was cut off when Phil hit him across the face, Andrew fell to the ground.

"Stay the fuck away from her." Phil yelled at him before storming back to Melinda's room. "How is she Trace?" his voice soft.

"She fell asleep. What did you do to Andrew?" she replied

"Just had a talk." Phil shrugged.

"Right. Maybe you should head back to your room. Talk to her tomorrow when she is feeling better. Thanks for bringing her back."

"Alright. Night Tracy."

"Goodnight Phil."

8~8

_A week later..._

Melinda was sitting on her bed, reading a book about the history of art when a knock came from the door. She placed her book down and walked over to the door, opening it to reveal a familiar face.

"Phil, what are you doing here?"

"Doug is out with Tracy and Stu is being boring as hell." He joked, "I was wondering if you wanted to hang out?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"I don't know. Weather seems nice, we could hit the beach, like we used too."

"Sounds great." Melinda smiled at him before grabbing her keys.

8~8

Phil and Melinda walked along the beach; the sun was beginning to set as the waves were calmly crashing along the shore. They laughed and talked, just like they used to do when they were younger.

Out of the blue Phil grabs Melinda, throwing her over his shoulder before dumping her into the water.

"What the fuck Phil." Melinda laughed as she stood up, soaked head to toe. He was standing in the shallows, laughing so hard he didn't notice her rushing towards him until he felt the weight of her body knock him to the ground, his back getting soaked in the thin layer of water. Phil flipped them over and stared down at her, both of them smiling. He stared down at her before leaning forwards placing his lips on hers.

She froze. Her heartbeat quickened, but it wasn't long until she was kissing him back, wrapping her arms around his neck, drawing him closer. The kiss was soft and lasted for what felt like an eternity before the two broke apart, staring at each other.

Phil suddenly got up, holding out his hand to help her up, she placed her hand in his and he pulled her up. He turned his head and looked at the setting sun.

"Let's get back, it's getting late."He said simply and started to walk back to his car, his hand still holding hers.

8~8

Reaching the dorms, Melinda opened her door and walked in, noticing the absence of her roommate. "Well, uh, I should get going. Thanks for the company, Mel." Phil leaned forward and placed a kiss on her cheek, lingering for a moment before leaving. Melinda stared at the spot Phil was just standing, her hand rising to the cheek he just kissed before turning back to her room and shutting the door.

She looked down at her damp clothes with a sigh, quickly shredding them and walked over to stand at her dresser in her purple underwear when a knock came from her door. She grabbed a towel, wrapping it around herself before going to the door and opening it a crack to see Phil standing there.

"Is something wrong?" She asked, he just laughed.

"No, uh, your brother just kind of kicked me out, I think for the whole night. He said something about him having company, so, yeah."

"That explains why Tracy isn't back. Come in, we can be lonely losers together." She smiled, opening the door wider for him to come in. He walked in shutting the door behind him. "Uh, I just realised that I have to get dressed. Could you, uh, maybe tur-"

She was cut off when his mouth found hers, all thoughts draining from her mind, her towel dropping to the ground completely forgotten. The kiss was soft and sweet but was also full of urgency and passion. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he moved them to her bed, gently pushing them both onto its surface.

8~8

A few weeks had passed and Melinda and Tracy were walking through the park on their way back from the movies when Melinda bent over and threw up into the bushes. Tracy pulled her friends hair out of the way and rubbed her back.

"Mel, are you okay?" She asked when Melinda had finished throwing up. "That's the third time this week. Maybe you should go to see a doctor."

Melinda straightened back up and wiped her mouth on her sleeve."Yeah, maybe. But I bet it's nothing." They set off down the park path again.

"Maybe you're pregnant." Tracy joked causing Melinda to stop in her tracks. Tracy looked back at her friend and saw fear on her face. "Mel, I was joking. I mean you actually have to have sex t—Oh, my God. Who was it?" she finished smiling at her friend.

"It was no one." Melinda said, avoiding her friends gaze as she started to walk again, Tracy beside her.

"Maybe Doug knows who it was."

"No one knows Trace, so don't bother."

"Okay, fine. Let's go grab a pregnancy test, just to make sure."

"Alright. "

8~8

Tracy stood by a sink in the woman's rest room at the mall, Melinda emerged from a stall a few moments later, a blank look on her face as she stared at the pregnancy test in her hand. Tracy rushed over and looked at the test to see the result, two pink lines.

Positive.

"Mel. Are you okay?"

"W-What am I going to do Trace?" Tears forming in her eyes.

"Well first, we book you an appointment to confirm it, and then you can decide what to do." Tracy said, hugging her distressed friend. "Everything will be okay, Mel. I'll stand by you."

8~8

"Melinda, this is going to be a tad cold, okay." Said the doctor as she squirted goo on her abdomen for the ultrasound. "Right, let's see what's going on here."

It had been a few days since Melinda took the pregnancy test. She visited the doctor who had suggested she book an ultrasound when her blood test came back positive.

Tracy held Melinda's hand as they waited in baited breath watching the screen. Melinda's face was covered in fear and disbelief.

"Right, if you look here, that's the baby's heart beating. You look to be about six weeks. Congratulations." The doctor smiled as she took some pictures of the baby for the records, scribbling down notes as she went. Melinda stared at the picture on the ultrasound, tears swimming in her eyes.

"Mel, are you okay?" Tracy whispered to her, Melinda just smiled, a few tears rolling down her face.

"I've never been better." Came her reply, making her friend smile with her. "I'm going to be a mum. Who would have thought?"

"Are you going to tell me who the father is yet?" Tracy teased causing Melinda to take her gaze of the screen to glare at her.

"Can I just enjoy this for awhile longer?"

"Absolutely." They both turned their attention back to the screen.

8~8

Melinda walked the hallway towards the library where she knew her brother would be. She walked in and spotted him, sitting at a table with Stu, books open as they studied. She made her way over to them and took a seat next to her brother.

"Hey Mel, what's up?" He asked with a smile on his face.

"I have some news okay, but you have to promise not to freak out." She told him.

"Uh, maybe I should go." Stu said as he started collecting his things.

"No, Stu, you can stay. It's fine. I was going to tell you as well anyway. Where's Phil?"

"Well, we asked him if he wanted to study and he said he had something else to do."

"Anyway, what did you want to tell us Mel?" Doug asked his twin.

Melinda looked down at the table and took a picture out of her pocket and placed it face down on the table in front of her brother. "Take a look." Was all she said her eyes still on the table before her.

He picked it up and looked at it, a look of confusion falling onto his face. He handed it to Stu, who too looked confused.

"Umm, Mel, is that a picture from an ultrasound?" Stu asked her, she nodded her reply. "Is it yours?" again she nodded, a tears forming in her eye. The two of them stared at her, both unsure of what to say.

"Whatever you want to do, we'll be there, and you know we will." Doug gently said to her as he placed an arm around her shoulder. She looked up at him beaming, a tear escaping her eye. She was so happy that he was supporting her.

"Thanks, that means so much. I want to keep it, but I don't want to tell the father. At least not yet." She told them.

"Who is the father? We didn't even know you were seeing someone."

"I'm not. It was just a onetime thing. I'm not even sure it meant anything."

"Please just tell me it isn't Andrew's baby."

"No, defiantly not. I never slept with him, which is why he broke up with me in the first place, this happened after that ended." She answered.

"Hey guys. What are you talking about?" The three jumped as they saw Phil walking over. Melinda quickly snatched the picture of Stu and slipped it into her pocket. Phil asked her as he sat down next to Stu, directly opposite her.

"Nothing. I have to go, talk later guys." Melinda said as she stood up and walked from the room.

8~8

"I still think you should tell him, he has a right to know Mel. It's been a month since you found out, you're going to start showing soon and you know he will find out something's up then." Doug told her as they sat under a tree in the park with Tracy and Stu, after Melinda finally told them who the father was.

"I'm just not ready to tell him yet. I know I should, but I just need a bit more time. " Melinda said as she plucked grass from the ground.

"Well you better get a move on, how do you think he will react?" Tracy asked.

"I don't know. That's why I can't tell him yet, I'm scared his goi—Argh." Melinda crouched over holding her stomach, server pain distracting her from what she was about to say.

"Mel what's wrong?" Her brother asked his voice panicked as they all jumped to her side.

"I-I don't know. God. It hurts." Her face was scrunched up as she tried to handle the pain.

"Oh, my God, Mel, you're bleeding." Tracy cried when she saw the blood.

"Stu, call an ambulance. It's going to be okay, Mel." Doug said to her as Stu called an ambulance.

8~8

She could hear the sound of something dripping; she was tired, her eyes felt heavy.

"Is she okay doctor?" She heard someone ask. No, not someone, it was Doug.

"She'll be fine with time, but she lost the baby." A woman said to him, her voice professional but sad all the same. "She will need time to recover, physically and mentally. And you'll have to keep a close eye on her. She will need as much support as she can get." Melinda heard footsteps and then the door shutting.

"I'm so sorry Mel." Sadness in his voice, as he grabbed her hand. "I'm so, so sorry."

8~8

_Present Day..._

Melinda sat on the couch as the three men stood around a raw steak, Stu was complaining about him being the one to feed it to the tiger, when Melinda's phone started to ring, snapping her from her daze.

"It's Nick." She said as she stood up and headed to her room. Walking in and sitting on her bed. "Hello."

"_Hey babe. I was wondering when you were getting home, you know, I have some friends over." _Nick said on the other end.

"Umm, actually, I'm kind of in the middle of something, I won't be home until tomorrow." She told him.

"_Really? Why's that?"_

"I'm in Vegas." Not even caring to lie to him. She looked up and noticed Phil standing in the doorway.

"_What the fuck are you doing in Vegas? You told me you were going on a Spa date with Tracy!" _He yelled through the phone causing Mel to cringe.

"I lied."

"_Why the fuck did you lie to me? You're screwing Phil aren't you, you little slut! I knew you were shagging him behind my back!"_

Melinda stood up as anger swam through her, "No Nick, I'm not. I'm not like you. I don't cheat." Phil walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"_What the fuck is that meant to mean!?"_

"I know you're screwing Lily. I saw you, so don't even bother to deny it! And I know you don't have friends over, she's there!" She yelled at him, a tear escaping her eye. There was silence on the other end of the phone. "You know what Nick, don't even bother coming to the wedding tomorrow, and better yet, move out. I don't even want to see you when I get home. Go shag your whore at her place. We're over!" With that she hung up the phone and threw it at the wall, tears falling from her eyes as Phil pulled her into a hug.

"It's okay Mel. Everything will be fine." He told her.

"I hate this trip. Why did I bother coming with you guys?" Melinda stepped away from Phil and sat on the bed, putting her head in her hands. "It's just one big mess. My brother is missing. I have a tattoo with your name on it. And I keep remembering the miscarriage in college."

She felt Phil sit next to her on the bed, "Why didn't you tell me Mel? Why didn't you even tell me you were pregnant?"

"You know why." Melinda said, raising her head to look at him. "The baby was yours. I thought you'd freak out if I told you. Then I had the miscarriage, and I could pretend it never happen. Except, I was dying inside, each and every day."

Tears freely rolling down Melinda's cheeks as they sat there in silence. Phil was staring at her, mouth open as though he was about to say something when he was interrupted as someone knocked on the open door. The two looked over and saw Stu standing there. "Uh, sorry but the tiger's asleep. We should go."

They watched as Stu walked away leaving the two alone once more. "We'll talk about this later Phil." She told him before standing and walking from the room.

8~8

They were in the car, all four somehow squished together in the front as they drove awkwardly towards Mike Tyson's house with the sleeping tiger in the back.

"I seriously have no idea how we all fit in here." Melinda mumbled as she sat between Alan and Stu.

"Hey, guys, when's the next Halley's comet?" Alan asked out of the blue.

"Who cares, man?" Phil said.

"Do you know, Stu?"

"I don't think it's for, like another sixty years or something." Stu said looking at Alan.

"But it's not tonight, right?"

"No, I don't think so."

"But you don't know for sure?"

"No."

"I got this cousin who saw one. He said it blew his mind. I wanna make sure I never, ever miss out on a Halley's Comet. So if you guys know if there's gonna be one-" Alan was cut off when the tiger growled.

"Oh, fuck!" Phil yelled. Panic hit the car as the Tiger was now awake and roaring. Phil swerved the car causing the other cars to honk their horns at them. Phil pulled over and flew out of the car, the others following close behind, shutting the doors.

"Oh, my God!" Stu cried.

"Fuck it! Stu! Stu, it got me! Stu!" Phil screamed.

"You got clawed! You're bleeding!"

"Holy shit!" Melinda yelled, rushing over to him to take a look at where the tiger had gotten him.

"I'm panicking." Alan yelled.

"Oh my God!" Phil screamed as the tiger smashed a window, pushing himself and Melinda away from the car.

8~8

With its hazard lights blinking, the four pushed the car up the road, Alan at the front steering. "I can't do it." He said, panicked as he jumped away from the side of the car.

"Get your fucking hand back in there and steer the car." Phil ordered.

"I'm too nervous."

"Let me do it." Melinda said.

"No way Mel." Phil said to her.

"Look, he is stronger than me so he will be more help back here pushing with you guys." She argued.

"She has a point, Phil." Stu agreed.

"Fuck, Fine!" Phil said as Melinda and Alan switched places.

"Thank you Mel." Alan said as he passed her.

"No problems man, just buy me a drink later." She said as she placed her hand on the steering wheel and steered the car, ignoring a very mad Phil.

8~8

"You're late." Mike's body guard said as he answered the door, when they had finally arrived.

"Whatever, man. We had to push it the last mile." Phil said.

"Come on in. Mike's got something he wants to show you."

The four walked inside. "That thing's out of control, man. Seriously, you gotta put it down." Phil said as he entered. They walked in and sat on the couch with Mike, in front of the TV.

"When we got back, we took a look at the security cameras." Mike told them.

"Great." Phil said while Mike turned on the TV revealing five very drunk individuals walking on the lawn.

"_This is how you walk. This is how you walk." _The Phil on the video on the tape said. Melinda smiled at the sight of her brother safe, completely out of his mind, but safe.

"Oh, it's Doug." Stu said.

"Oh, thank God he's alive." Phil said as he leaned back in his seat.

"That's our buddy. That's who we've been missing."

"We're all best friends." Alan said.

"Why don't you just pay attention? I don't have all night." Mike said.

"Yeah, of course. Of course." Phil said, looking at the television again.

"_What are you doing?" Stu said to Alan who was standing by the pools edge._

"_Guys. Check it out. Watch this." Alan on the recording said._

"That's me, I'm on TV. I've never been on TV before." Alan said, watching himself pee into the pool.

"_What are you doing, man?" Doug said._

"Really? Really, Alan?" Phil turned to Alan

"_You got a fire hose, man?" Doug asked laughing._

"Yeah, I was, uh—" Alan said watching.

"_You're gonna overflow the pool, man." Stu said on the video._

"Maybe—Should I wait outside?" Alan asked

"I think that's a good idea, Alan." Mike said to him.

"Yeah." Alan said as he got up to leave.

"Don't touch anything out there, either." The body guard said to him on his way out.

"You know what? He's not our good fr—We don't know him that well." Stu said.

"Way to stick by your friends there Stu." Melinda said from beside him.

They looked back to the screen to see Melinda and Phil having a very heated make-out session, where Melinda and Phil were trying to remove each other's clothes.

"_Get a room you two." Stu on the recording laughed._

Melinda stared at the image before getting up and running out. She couldn't believe that she getting it on with a married man, let alone her best friend. It was one thing getting told by Jade that they were making out all night, but it was something else seeing it. She felt dirty. Maybe she was a slut like Nick said she was. Maybe she was just like Lily.

She walked out to the now tiger-less car and climbed into the tattered backseat. The others came out to the car minutes later and they drove off in silence.

8~8

"You know, everyone says Mike Tyson is such a badass but I think he's kind of a sweetheart." Stu said as he drove the car.

"I think he's mean." Alan said from the back.

"You only think that because he punched you." Melinda told him.

"All right. I think it's officially time we call Tracy." Phil said.

"Hallelujah. Finally, Phil says something that makes sense." Stu said.

"I mean, we don't have much of a choice. And who knows, maybe she's heard from Doug."

"That's what I've been saying this whole time." Stu said as they stopped at an intersection.

"We just need to be completely honest. We need to tell her everything."

"We don't have to tell her everything. I mean we can leave out the stuff about me marrying a hooker, or about you and Mel making out. Just stay focused on Doug."

"What am I gonna tell my dad about the car?" Alan said, worried.

"Alan, relax. It's just the inside. Come on. I got a guy in L.A. who's great with interiors." Phil said right as a SUV rammed into the side of the car, pushing them along to the side of road where it crashed into a neon sign causing Melinda to hit her head on the side of the car, turning everything black.

**A/N: Okay, starters, I'm not actually sure that they do the ultrasound externally when you're only a month preggers, but I wouldn't know. I didn't find out I was pregnant with my daughter until I was 17 and a half weeks pregnant.**

**Anyway, what do you think of Mel's back story? She slept with Phil – Let's be honest, who wouldn't want a piece of Bradley Cooper ;) – She was going to have his baby, but lost it :( I hope I didn't disappoint anyone with the flashback. **

_**FeliciaFelicis, **_**The reason I post very quickly is because of your reviews. I love how every chapter you write something. It gives me confidence in my story. So lots of Thanks. My dad always tells me that his picks on me because he cares. It's always a laugh, and now that I am older, I don't take it so seriously. I used to take it very seriously once. Haha.**

**Anyway, thank you everyone who is reading this. It means so much, so lots of thanks. Please Review. **

**-MercurioC**


	8. Chapter 8

"Mel! Mel, wake up! Fuck!" She heard a voice say above her. Her head was throbbing worse than it had that morning. "Come on, Mel! Melinda! Wake up!"

"I think we should get her to the hospital, Phil." She heard a different voice. She tried to remember. But her head was hurting so bad. She wanted to go back to sleep.

"Mel, please wake up. We found Doug." The first voice pleaded. _Doug? _She thought to herself. _Who was...? _

_DOUG!_

Her eyes sprang open to see Phil looking down at her, relief spreading over his face. "Hey. Welcome back." He said as she blinked at him.

"Hi." She said back, trying to sit up.

"Whoa, take it easy." Phil said as he and Stu slowly helped her to sit up.

"What happened? Why am I on the road, I was in the car." She said, confused.

"You kind of hit your head when the SUV rammed into us. You've been out cold for half an hour." Stu said to her.

"What? And you idiots didn't take me to see a doctor?" She started to yell, only to hiss in pain. She raised her hand to her head closing her eyes.

"We know where Doug is." Phil said. Her eyes shot back open and she looked at him.

"Really? Where?"

"That guy from the trunk has him. We have to get his purse back, which has $80,000 in it. Come on. Let's get back to the hotel." He helped her up and back into the car, sitting her in the back and sat next to her as Stu drove them back to the hotel.

8~8

When they reached the hotel, Phil helped Melinda to the couch before he joined the other two in the search for the bag. It was chaotic as the three men tore the place apart, searching high and low for the bag, every now and then Stu or Phil telling Melinda to sit back down when she got up to try and help. After a while of unsuccessful searching, they all came back into the lounge.

"Guys, I'm telling you, I looked for it this morning before we left. It's not anywhere." Alan said, walking over to the couch.

"Fuck. Stu, how much money you got in the bank?" Phil asked.

"About ten grand. I was gonna use it for the wedding." Stu replied as he sat on a couch next to Melinda.

"Well you're already married, so we're good there. Besides, enough with Melissa, she's the worst."

"Yeah, Doug told me she had sex with a pilot or something."Alan said.

"It was a bartender on a cruise. What is wrong with you people?" Stu defended. "Ew. Alan, did you just eat sofa pizza?"

"Yes." Alan replied, making Melinda laugh.

"What are we gonna do? We are so fucked." Phil stressed causing Melinda's smile disappeared.

"Hey, guys?"

"Did you find it?" Stu asked.

"Nope. But check this out." Alan said, holding up his 'World's Greatest Blackjack' book.

"Right! That's it! We'll win the money." Phil said. "Right, everyone shower and get dressed. Stu, give Jade a call, she may be able to help us pull this off. Okay, Mel, Alan, be ready to head down in no more than an hour. Right. Let's do this."

8~8

Melinda sat on her bed in a grey halter-neck cocktail dress, when someone came and sat next to her.

"How are you feeling?"

She turned her head to see Phil staring at her. "I'm fine." she replied before the two fell into silence for a few minutes.

"Mel. I've been thinking, about what we talked about earlier. About the baby." Phil said as Melinda looked towards the ground. "You should have told me, I would have supported you."

"I was scared Phil. You were one of my best friends. I was scared the baby would ruin what we had, or that you'd run." She looked up at him. "I loved you. I loved you so much that I was going to keep your baby."

Phil stared at her for a minute, watched as a tear fell from her eye and run down her cheek. She stared at her hands that fiddled with the hem of her dress.

"I loved you too." Her eyes shot up to his and he continued. "And I would have loved you and the baby. Our baby. You should have told me Mel. I would have supported you. I would have comforted you during the miscarriage. I would have loved you... I do love you."

"What?" Melinda asked, thinking that maybe she had misheard.

"I never told you why I married Stephanie. I decided that I would marry her the day you moved in with Nick. I thought that I would never get my chance with you now that you were in a happy relationship, so I decided to just stay with Steph and to marry her, even try to love her like I love you."

Melinda's heart froze. She felt as though time had slowed to stop..

"You love me?" she croaked out, her voice failing her.

"More than anything." He replied.

"But... You're with Steph. You're happy."

"Did you not hear what I said on the way here? I hate my life, and I mean it. I've hated my life the moment I let you slip through my fingers."

"Phil, I—I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything. It doesn't matter anymore anyway. You'll never love me again, and I won't make you." He stood up to leave when Melinda grabbed his arm. He turned to see her standing in front of him. He placed one hand on her waist and the other on the back of her neck, pulling her forwards until their lips touched. She closed her eyes moving her arms up his chest, coming to rest on his shoulders, loosing herself in his touch.

The kiss ended as quickly as it had started. She felt Phil pull away from her and heard he's footsteps leave the room. She opened her eyes, looking at the empty room, her mind rebooting. She wanted to yell to him, tell him that she still loved him but she remembered that they had a job to do. They had to get Doug back, telling Phil can wait until later. She smiled and touched her lips before walking from the room.

8~8

Melinda waited by the bar as Phil and Alan went to gamble, sipping a much needed drink. She was so close to finding her brother. So close to going home, to an empty house where she can start fresh. Everything was looking up.

"Hey baby, can I buy you a drink?" A man asked her, she looked at him with a small smile.

"Already have one, but thanks for the offer."

"Okay, maybe you'd like to join me in my room." He said winking at her.

"Keep moving buddy. Find some other chick to chat up."

The man walked away as Phil and Alan walked around the corner, both smiling. Phil waved her over.

"Go get the car ready. We'll meet you there after we get this changed into cash." He told her, handing her the valet ticket. She walked away from them and went outside, handing a valet the ticket. Stu joined her moments later and they stood waiting for the car.

"Where's Jade?" She asked him.

"Oh, she had to go." He told her. "So... What's going on between you and Phil?"

She blushed and looked down at her still bare feet as she had failed to find a pair of shoes. "I seriously have no idea."

The car pulled up and Melinda climbed into the back. A minute later Alan climbed into the back next to her while Stu and Phil climbed into the front. Phil took the keys and started to drive off.

Melinda turned to Alan "Well done, you did well by the looks of things." She smiled at him, and gave him a well deserved hug. "We're gonna get my brother back, all thanks to you."

8~8

Stu counted the money as the sun was starting to rise. They were closer to the drop of point now then the city. "And 100, 200, 300, 400. With all this, that's $82,400."

"Goddamn it. I don't fucking believe it." Phil cheered.

"Whoo!"

"Alan, you're the man."

"You are too, Phil." Alan said

"We should come back next week, take the whole city down."

"Oh, I'm free next week."

"Or we could just focus on getting Doug back, right now." Stu said.

"Such a killjoy Stu. Let the boys have their moment." Melinda said a smile on her face.

"Oh, you know what? Next week's no good, the Jonas Brothers are in town." Alan realised, Melinda laughed. "But any week after that is totally fine."

"I think it's safe to say that our luck has officially turned around, guys." Phil said. "We're back, baby. We are fucking back."

"We're back. Classic." Stu said before singing "_We are back, we are back."_

"That's right."

"_We are getting Doug back."_

"_And we're the four best friends that anybody could have."_ Alan started singing. _"We're the four best friends that anybody could have. We're the four best friends that anybody could have and we'll never, ever, ever, ever, ever leave each other. We're the best four friends that anybody could have. I mean the four best friends that anybody could have._.._" _Melinda laughed, truly believing that things were looking up.

8~8

"Now what?" Phil asked as they pulled up in the middle of the desert.

"Give him the signal." Alan told him.

"What signal?"

"Flash your lights. Let him know it's on."

"What's on?"

"The deal."

"Of course it's on. We just drove 30 miles into the desert. He knows it's on."

"Phil, just do something." Stu said.

"Fine." Phil said as he flashed the lights, the doors on the SUV opened. "Oh, shit."

"See?" Alan said

"All right, let's go."

Phil climbed out the side of the car, helping Melinda out after him, while the other two climbed out the window on the other side, Alan falling onto the ground.

"Funny fat guy fall on face." Laughed the angry man from the trunk.

"You okay?" Stu asked Alan.

"All right, we got the money. Eighty grand, cash." Phil said to the men before them.

"Throw it over. Then I give you Doug." The man said.

"Um, I'm sorry. First of all, good morning. And we didn't catch your name last night." Stu said.

"Mr. Chow. Leslie Chow." He replied.

"Mr. Chow, it is a pleasure. My name is Stu. And we would very much appreciate an opportunity to see Doug before we give you the money, just to verify that he's okay. If that's cool."

"Of course, Stu. That is cool." Mr. Chow said before giving instructions to one of his men who moved back to the car and took Doug out, a sack over his head.

"Oh, thank God."

"Okay." Alan said.

"See, he fine. Now give me money or I shoot him, and I shoot all you motherfuckers. And then we take it. Your choice, bitches." Mr. Chow said.

"Give him the money, Stu." Phil said.

"Okay." Stu said throwing the bag over to them.

"It's all there." A man told Mr. Chow after checking the bag.

"Let him go." Chow ordered.

"All right, take it easy. Take it easy." Phil said.

"Ta-da." Chow said as one of his men removed the sack, revealing a man who was not Melinda's brother. Guttered, Melinda backed up to the car, leaning on the hood.

"Is this some kind of Joke? Who the hell is this?" Phil said.

"That is not Doug." Stu said, pointing at the man.

"What you talking about, Willis? That him." Mr Chow said.

"No, I'm sorry, Mr Chow. That's not our friend. He—That's-"

"The Doug we're looking for is a white." Alan said.

Melinda was on the verge of tears. She wanted to run as far as she could, leave this whole mess behind her. She turned around and started to walk back the way they came, ignoring the car, ignoring the people. She just wanted out.

She heard a car drive off and people yelling. She heard the sound of approaching footsteps. But she kept walking.

"Where the hell are you going?" Phil asked her when he caught up.

"I'm going to go find my brother." She replied as she walked.

"Come on. Hop in the car, I'm gonna call Tracy. See if he called her."

"What is the point anymore Phil? The wedding is today and we can't find Doug." Melinda stopped and turned to him. "We've got no fucking plan and we are running out of time."

"Hey, calm down. I won't rest until we find him, okay? But we have to call Tracy, let her know what happened. I promise you we will find him and I intend of keeping that promise. Now come on, let's get in the car, drive to where we get service on the phone and give your sister-in-law a call." He said as he took her hand and walked her over to where the others were waiting.

8~8

Phil stood away from the others, his phone in hand, dialling Tracy's number. Melinda walked over to him, just to let him know he didn't have to do it alone. He put the phone to his ear and as it rang he grabbed Melinda's hand, holding it tight.

"Ahem, Tracy, its Phil. - Yeah, listen. Uh... we fucked up. - The bachelor party, the whole night. Things got out of control, uh... and we lost Doug. - We can't find Doug." Phil squeezed Melinda's hand, gently. "Yeah. That's not gonna happen. – Listen, Trace, I'm really sorry. I-" All of a sudden Phil and Melinda fell to the ground. Melinda looked up to see Stu fighting to get the phone.

"What the fuck Stu?" Melinda cried punching him in the arm.

"Tracy, it's Stu.—Uh, nothing. Don't listen to Phil. He's completely out of his mind. He's probably still drunk from last night.—He is paying the bill. We just had a delicious brunch. And, uh, we're in a hurry to get back, so we gotta get going. Okay, we'll see you soon. Bye." Stu hung up.

"What the fuck, man?" Phil screamed at him.

"I know where Doug is." A huge smile on his face.

"Stu, seriously?" Melinda asked, eyes wide.

**A/N: Sorry about the small gap in posting, I know it's not a big deal, but I still felt bad. I was playing **_**Skyrim. **_**That game is so addictive. **

**Anyway, whatcha all think? **

_**FeliciaFelicis, **_**I'll miss our conversation too. But I could always write my version of **_**Part Two**_**, depending on how I end this one. No I haven't seen the advert, might look it up :) And do not apologise, I love your long reviews. I actually look forward to them and it's the reason I try to post fast. Thank you so much for the ongoing support. **

**Again, thank you to everyone who is reading, it makes me happy knowing people are enjoying my story, so please, keep reading. And if you have a spare moment, please review.**

**-MercurioC**


	9. Chapter 9

They were speeding along the road, heading back to the hotel.

"I don't know, man. It just hit me. You remember when we saw Doug's mattress impaled on that statue?" Stu asked as he drove.

"Yeah, we threw it out the window." Phil said.

"No, impossible. You can't open windows in Vegas hotels."

"Well, then how did it get-? Oh, my God!" Phil cried as Melinda smiled, the both of them finally getting what Stu was on about. The three of them laughed.

"Whoa, wait. What's going on?" Alan asked, confused.

"Doug was trying to signal someone." Stu told him.

"Holy Shit." Phil said.

"Yes."

"Wait. How did you figure that out?"

"Doug made me realise it."

"Doug?"

"Uh, not our Doug. Black Doug."

"Hey, hey, easy with that shit. Come on." Doug said.

"Sorry."

"Okay, can someone tell me where white Doug is?"

"He's on the roof Alan." Melinda said smiling at him.

"Yes. He's on the roof. We must have taken him up there as a prank so he'd wake up on the roof." Stu said.

"Like that time in summer camp. Remember when we moved his sleeping bag out in the jetty at the lake?" Phil asked them.

"Which was hilarious." Stu said, as he and Melinda laughed at the memory. "It's not so funny now, though, because we forgot where we put him."

"You guys are fucking retarded, you know that?" Doug said.

"Thanks Doug." Melinda said, smiling.

"Holy shit. You think he's still up there?" Phil asked.

"He better be, or I will beat the crap out of you both for getting my hopes up again." Melinda joked.

"There's only one way to find out." Stu said.

8~8

"Doug!" Phil shouted as they reached the door to the roof. "Doug!"

"Doug!" Melinda called, running through the door after Phil.

"Doug!" Stu called as Alan wedged the door open.

"Doug, you up here, buddy?" Phil shouted. They all looked for their missing friend. "Where you at, Doug? Doug!"

"Hey, guys! He's over here!" Stu called to them, running towards him.

"Hey, I found him! He's over here!" Alan shouted as he ran over with Melinda.

"Oh, shit" Phil said, relieved before he ran over to them.

Stu and Melinda kneeled down next to Doug, Melinda hugging her brother for dear life.

"He's okay." Stu shouted before turning back to Doug. "You're okay. Ha, ha, ha! Oh, God. We gotta go, buddy. Come on." Melinda let go of her brother and her and Stu helped him up. "Oh, we have been looking everywhere for you. He's alive."

At that moment Alan came over, pushing Melinda out of the way but she was too happy to care. She ran over to Phil and smiled at him. "You keep your promise, thank you." He just pulled her into a hug, placing a kiss on her head.

"What the fuck is going on?" Doug said, his skin red.

"We can explain everything, but right now we gotta go." Stu told him.

"Hey, bud. You okay?" Phil asked with his arm still around Melinda.

"No. Not okay." Doug replied.

"You look good, you got some colour. I'm jealous."

"I'm getting married today."

"Yes, you are Doug. And that's why you need to focus and do everything we say. Because, frankly, you're wasting a little bit of time right now."

"You fucking asshole!" Doug yelled at him before charging, Melinda only managed to step away from Phil when Doug sent them falling to the ground, whimpering when he landed on Phil. "Oh, my skin burns. My skin burns. Oh, ow! God."

"Shit, Doug, you okay?" Melinda asked as she rushed to her brother's aid followed by Alan and Stu.

"It's okay. It's not your fault Doug." Alan said, kneeling by his brother-in-law, pushing Melinda out of the way again.

"Don't touch me. Shut up. All of you shut up." Doug said to them. "Just get me home. Just get me home."

Stu nodded as he and Alan helped him up and started to walk towards the door. Melinda walked over to Phil and helped him to stand.

"Come on, let's go, before my brother blitz attacks you again." Melinda said with a laugh. Phil hooked his arm around her shoulder as they followed the other three off the roof.

8~8

"What about the one after that?" Stu asked into his phone as they left the hotel, Phil wheeling Doug in a wheelchair, Doug drinking a much needed bottle of water. "You cannot be serious. Oh, goddamn it." He said as he hung up.

"What?" Phil asked.

"Every flight to L.A. is booked.

"What about in the Burbank?"

"Totally sold out."

"Oh, fuck! We can't drive there, the wedding starts in three and a half hours. Alan, where's the car?"

"It's on its way." Alan replied.

"You know what? We can drive there. We can make it. Okay?" Stu said when Melinda noticed Jade sitting on a bench. She nudged Stu who followed her gaze. "Just give me one second." He said and ran over to Jade.

"We will leave without you."Phil yelled after him.

"Phil, don't be an ass." Melinda said kneeing next to her brother. "You okay?"

"Is he missing a tooth?" Doug asked

"Yeah." Melinda replied with a laugh. She looked up to see Phil staring at her before quickly looking away.

"Is everything okay with you?" Doug crocked out in a whisper only his sister could hear.

"Yeah. I'm fine Doug. Just want to get you home to Trace." She told him with a smile. The car pulled up next to them, they carefully sat Doug in the back, Melinda sitting next to him in the middle.

"It needs to go down." Alan said, trying to get the top down.

"It's good. Get in." Phil said as he sat in the driver's seat.

"No. Safety first." Alan said still trying to get the roof down properly.

"Alan, its fine. It's down."

"No, I gotta get it down first."

"Jesus Christ. Look out." Phil said as he climbed over his seat and stomped on the roof.

"Don't mess the car up." Alan pleaded with him. "You're gonna mess the car up."

"Alan, the car is already messed up. Look its fine. Just get in." Melinda said to him from where she sat. Alan and Phil hoped in to the front of the car where they waited for Stu, both leaning over the windscreen, banging on it.

"Stu. Come on." Phil called.

"Stu. Come on." Alan repeated. Melinda laughed.

"Looks like Phil has a fan." Melinda whispered to her brother, who silently chuckled. Stu ran over.

"All right, let's go." Phil said as he started to drive away, making Stu jump into the back, and half landing on Melinda.

"Yeah. Oh, sorry Mel." Stu said before straighten up in his seat.

They were off, speeding down the road, on the way to the wedding.

8~8

"At least the trip wasn't a total disaster." Doug said as Phil sped down the highway.

"What makes you say that?" Alan asked.

"When I woke up on the roof I happened to find $80, 000 worth of Bellagio chips in my pocket."

"Oh, my God!" Stu cheered, as everyone cheered happily.

"Looks like we're going home with some money, guys." Doug said, smiling, his teeth looking extremely white against his sun burned skin.

"Whoo! Woo-Hoo!" They all called out.

8~8

A van honked its horn. Alan looked over as the van pulled up alongside, keeping up with their speedy driving. "Here he comes. That's him. Hey Neeco!"

The side of the van opened, "Hey. What's up Alan?" Neeco called before chucking a brown package to Stu who gave it to Alan. "Whoa, look out."

"Oh, shit." Phil said as he served around a car and back next to the van. Neeco threw another package to Stu.

"Thanks, Neeco." Alan yelled.

"You got it man." Neeco replied.

"Page me!"

"Adios."

Phil speed away.

"Who the hell was that guy?" Stu asked.

"That's my buddy." Alan replied "I couldn't get a dress for you though Melinda. Real sorry."

"Its fine, Alan. I can get into my bridesmaid dress when I get there." She replied laughing.

8~8

They parked the car on the side of the road as the four men dressed behind the car. Melinda sat in the driver's seat ready to drive off when they got it.

"Hurry up guys!" She yelled as she waited.

When they had their clothes just on, they all jumped into the car and Melinda sped off, driving just as fast as Phil had. The four men sat in their seats, finishing getting dressed; Doug was shaving in the back, next to him Alan, and Stu who was pulling his socks on. Phil was in the front next to Melinda, fixing his tie.

They finally reached the house. Melinda pulled the car to a screeching halt before they all flew from the car, running through the front door.

"Hey. Sorry, MapQuest took us on a really crazy route." Stu said as he pulled on his jacket.

"Move guys, I have to get dressed or the bride will kill me." Melinda said as she pushed through the guys and ran off down the hall to get dressed. They had made it.

**A/N: One more chapter left my lovely readers. What do you think is going to happen between Mel and Phil?**

_**FeliciaFelicis, **_**I watched the advert :D He did look tasty. Haha. Like he always does. And I would pick him over the ice cream any day. I would pick him over any kind of food haha. Anyway, I hoped you liked this very short chapter, and like always, thank you for your support.**

**To all my other Readers, you guys are great, please review. One Chapter left, and Then I will start on the Next movie.**

**-MercurioC**


	10. Chapter 10

Melinda stood next to the other bridesmaids in their black dresses. She had managed to make herself look presentable, but her bruised and cut face, made her stand out from the others. Tracy started to walk down towards them as everyone stood. Melinda smiled and looked at her brother, who was grinning from ear to ear. She had never felt prouder. The wedding was just beautiful.

8~8

At the reception Melinda watched as Phil made his way through the crowd to his wife and son, feeling a sting of jealously when she saw him kiss his wife. She looked away and saw Alan and Stu standing around a table doing shots and walked over to them. She could use a drink.

"Hey guys, room for one more?" She asked them, standing in between the two men.

"Hey Mel. Want to do some shots?" Stu asked.

"You read my mind, Stu." The three of them downed a shot each, when Melinda noticed Melissa walking over, she nudged Stu in warning.

"Stu? You avoiding me?" Melissa asked him clearly peeved.

"Hey. Melissa." He calmly replied, turning to face her.

"Oh, my God. What happened to your tooth?" She asked when she saw the gap in his teeth, a look of disgust on her face.

"Have you met Alan? Tracy's brother. Brother of the -" She grabbed his mouth and forced it open so she could look at his missing tooth. "Okay. Ow."

"That is disgusting." She released his mouth and shoved him. "Why haven't you returned my calls?"

"Well, there was a snafu when we stopped -"

"I called the bed and breakfast in Napa. They said they had no record of you even checking in."

"That's because we didn't go to Napa." Stu replied.

"Stu. What the FUCK is going on?" She screeched at him loud enough for half the party to hear.

"We went to Las Vegas." Stu replied firmly.

"Oh, really? Las Vegas? Why would you go to Las Vegas?"

"Because my best friend was getting married. That's what guys do."

"Okay, that's not what you do." She said as she hit him on the chest with an open hand.

"Really? Well, then why did I do it, huh? Because I did it. Riddle me that. Why'd I do it? You know sometimes I think all you want me to do is what you want me to do. Well I'm sick of doing what you want all the time. I think in a healthy relationship, sometimes a guy should be able to do what he wants."

"That is not how this works!" She screamed at him.

"Oh, good. Because whatever this is ain't working for me!" Stu yelled back.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah."

"Since When?"

"Since you fucked that waiter on your cruise last June. Boom!"

"You told me it was a bartender." Alan casually stated.

"Oh, you're right. I stand corrected. It was a bartender. You fucked a bartender."

"You're an idiot."

"You're - You - You're such a bad person. Like, all the way through to your core." Stu turns to his two friends. "Alan, Mel, shall we dance?" Stu walks away pulling Melinda along with him, who was laughing. "Let's do this." They run up and hugged Doug and the three of them were soon joined by a very proud Phil, they all laughed and cheered while the man on stage sang 'Fame'. Alan came over and started to dance with them, they were all having the time of their lives.

8~8

It was getting late. Melinda sat with Tracy and the other bridesmaids while people behind them still enjoyed the party, Melinda was looking over to where her brother sat with Phil and Stu, ignoring the conversation going on between the other women.

"Mel. Why don't you go over there? I know you'd rather be drinking with them." Tracy said, smiling at her sister-in-law.

"Thanks Trace, but I think I might head home. And congratulations, it was a beautiful wedding. I still don't understand why you want to spend your life with my idiot brother, but hey, welcome to the family." Melinda said as she hugged her.

"Thanks Melinda. Thanks for getting him here."

"No problem."

Melinda waved as she made her way over to the guys. "Oh, here comes trouble." Doug said when his sister stood next to him. "Nice shoes."

"Shut up. You know I hate heels." She replied with a disgusted look on her face as she stared down at her feet. "I think I'd rather be bare foot again."

"Hey, I've been wondering. Where's Nick?"

"He... Uh... I ended things with him." She told him, noticing how Phil tensed at the mention of her now ex-boyfriend.

"What why?"

"He was sleeping with someone else. No big deal." She shrugged.

"No big deal? What? This is a big deal, he cheated on you!"

"Yes, and I ended it. Can we leave it alone, please?"

"When did you end things, 'cause you were together when I picked you up the other day."

"He called me when we were in Vegas. I told him I was there with you guys. He got mad, accused me of sleeping with Phil. So I told him I knew about him and Lily, told him to move out. See simple."

"He was sleeping with Lily? Some friend she turned out to be. But what made him think you slept with Phil? Did you tell him about college?"

"No way. Do you really think he would have let me see you guys if I told him that?" Melinda laughed, "He's a controlling loser."

"Nick was an idiot." Phil said as he sipped his drink.

"Anyway, I came over here to say congratulations bro and goodnight."

"You're leaving?" Doug asked his sister.

"I am beyond tired, and I have to do stuff tomorrow. Not all of us get to go on a holiday."

"Honeymoon." Doug corrected.

"Same difference, I'm never going to have one so what does it matter what I call it." Melinda shrugged.

"Oh, don't be like that Mel, you'll find someone crazy enough for you one day."

"Doubtful. The only man I ever loved is taken," She said, looking at Phil before looking back at her brother. "And I'm sick of settling for idiots. I'll see you when you get back okay? We'll have lunch or something. See you guys."

"Alright. Night Sis. Get home safe."

"Night Mel." Stu called as Melinda walked away.

8~8

Melinda walked up to her front door after paying the Taxi driver. Unlocking the door she walked inside the cold, unwelcoming walls of her house.

"Mel?" she heard a voice float down the stairs. She groaned and walked to her couch, falling into the soft cushions.

"Nick?" She called as she heard footsteps on the stairs. "I thought I told you to leave."

"I think we should talk about this." Nick replied as he walked over and sat down next to her, his eyes trained on her tired face.

"What is there to talk about?"

"I forgive you."

Melinda sat up, staring at him wide-eyed. "What?"

"I forgive you." Nick repeated. "For going to Vegas and lying to me."

"Again, what? You forgive me? You're the one who cheated."

"I've ended things with Lily. She is no longer in the picture."

"I really don't care. You cheated on me Nick and I found out. If I recall, I told you to get the hell out of my house." Melinda yelled as she stood.

"Look I'm trying to forgive you for being a lying little bitch." Nick yelled back at her, also standing.

"You forgive me for lying. Fine, I believe that. But I should tell you that I slept with Phil." Melinda said to him watching as he went from annoyed to angry.

"You slept with Phil? I knew you were cheating on me with him you little whore."

"Look Nick. I only slept with Phil on the night we went to Vegas. I haven't been cheating on you. I was faithful until that night, unlike you. Now, if you please, pack your things and get the hell out of my house. We. Are. Over."

Nick stared at Melinda as she glared at him, her eyes burning with angry tears. She stared him down until Nick looked towards the ground and walked from the room. Melinda let out a breath she didn't realise she had been holding as she heard Nick packing upstairs. Moments later he came back down the stairs, pausing by the door.

"I'll be back tomorrow for the rest of my things." Was all he said to her, before opening the door and leaving. Melinda was alone.

8~8

Melinda was dreaming about riding a bike when her phone rang, waking her. She looked over at the time. 4.17am. She groaned and reached for her phone beside her bed, answering it with a tired voice.

"Hello?"

"Mel, its Phil." Came the caller's reply

"It's four in the morning Phil." Melinda told him, sitting up in her bed rubbing her left eye.

"Why are you leaving?"

"Who told you?"

"So it's not true?"

"No, it's true. I just wanted to know who told you."

"Stu told me. He asked me if I was going to see you off at the airport, told me that you were leaving."

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you're the reason I am leaving." Melinda confessed, causing them to fall into silence.

"So you are going." Phil said after a few minutes.

"Yes."

"And I can't stop you."

"Correct."

"Why is it my fault?"

"It's not your fault, its mine."

"How?"

" Because I'm in love with you."

"Then why leave?"

"Phil, you're married remember. You have a child."

"But I can leave Steph. I'd leave her for you in a heartbeat if you asked."

"I won't ask. I'm not a home wreaker Phil. I will never ask you to leave Stephanie. I'd rather be lonely for the rest of my life then ask you to do that."

"But me and you, we'd be great together."

"That's why I have to go." Melinda told him, again falling into silence.

8~8

Bags packet. Ticket in hand. Melinda sat at the airport waiting to catch her plane. Doug, Stu and Tracy sat with her, chatting away, but Melinda couldn't hear a word they were saying. Her mind was on one thing, one person. Phil.

He was nowhere in sight. She actually hadn't heard from him since his early morning phone call a few weeks ago. Stu and Doug told her that he was probably just busy, but Melinda knew that he was avoiding her.

Doug nudging her knocked her from her thoughts. She looked up and followed his gaze. Phil was hesitantly standing a few feet away, looking at her. When he had her attention he waved her over and watched as she approached.

"Mel... I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"Ignoring you these past weeks."

"It's fine Phil."

"No its not. That's why I'm here. Even though I don't want to see you go, I didn't want to leave things on a bad note." Phil said looking over her shoulder at the others who were watching the two very closely. He turned his attention back to her. "When will you be back?"

"Christmas. I promised Doug and Tracy I'd be back then."

"Mel, you're flight is ready." Doug said causing Melinda to jump, not have noticing that he was standing there.

"Thanks Doug." Melinda said to her brother with a smile, watching as he walked away.

"I guess this is goodbye then." Phil whispered to her.

"Not goodbye, just... See you later."

"Alright. See you later then." Phil said, pulling his friend into his arms, hugging her.

"Bye Phil. Be good." Melinda replied, pulling away giving him a small smile before walking away, hoping he didn't see the tears in her eyes.

"Wait..." He said, grabbing her arm and pulling her back to him. He paused for a second before placing his lips on hers, kissing her for the last time. "Be safe Mel."

Melinda felt her tears falling from her eyes as she walked away from the man she loved. She hugged her friends and brother who all wished her luck. She grabbed her bag and walked to the flight attendant, handing her the ticket. She looked back at Phil, giving him a small wave before getting her ticket back and walking into the plane, ready to start a new life.

End...

**A/N: And before you say anything, I am writing a sequel, which will probably take a few months to write. Called **_**A New Life. **_**Mainly because Mel will have a new life. If you continue to Follow the story, I'll add an Authors Note when I upload the sequel, so you all know. **

**Also, I did say it wasn't like all the other Phil/OC fanfics, where there is a happy ending, that involves them getting together, being all lovey dovey. But that's not how I wanted it. I think I knew that I'd do a sequel because I didn't want them getting together... In this one. :D **

**Anyway, I really hope you all enjoyed my story. I had the best time writing this, and editing it like twenty times. And all of you who read, followed, favourite and reviewed it made it all worth it. So Thank you.**

**And a bigger thanks to **_**FeliciaFelicis, **_**who reviewed on all but one chapter (And that's only because I posted chapter 2 and 3 very close together.) You are awesome. Please look out for my next one. It has been fun chatting with you while I posted this story. So, I will chat with you during **_**A New Life. **_**Thank you times one million.**

**See you all next time. Thanks for the ride.**

**-MercurioC**


	11. Important Authors Note

**-IMPORTANT NOTICE-**

**TO EVERYONE WHO IS AWAITING THE SEQUAL (**_A NEW LIFE__**)**_**, PLEASE FORGIVE ME AS I CAN NOT POST THE STORY AT THIS CURRENT TIME. **

**I HAVE RECENTLY FOUND OUT I AM AGAIN PREGNANT AND I HAVE BECOME BUSIER THEN I WAS WHEN I WROTE MY STORY. **

**PLEASE NOTE I ****WILL ****WRITE **_**'**__A NEW LIFE__**'**_** TO THIS STORY AS I KNOW MANY READERS MAY NOT HAVE LIKED THE IDEA OF THE OC AND PHIL NOT GETTING TOGETHER. IN MY TIME SPARE, WHICH IS RARE AND FAR BETWEEN NOW, I WILL PLAN AND WRITE AS MUCH AS I CAN.**

**I EXPECT THAT '**_A NEW LIFE__**'**_** WILL BE UPLOADED NEXT YEAR AND I AM TRUELY SORRY FOR THE WAIT.**

**AS CHRISTMAS IS APPROCHING AND WILL MOST LIKELY BE HERE BEFORE WE KNOW IT, I WISH YOU ALL A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR. BE WELL.**

**-MercurioC**


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